Date: 8 December 2016
Source: JNU News Center
Author: Li Yueyang

--An interview with Prof. Jiang Zhengjin, president of the International Symposium on Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis

The 27th International Symposium on Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis (PBA) was held at JNU from Nov. 13 to 16. PBA, the world's most influential international pharmaceutical analysis event, is held in a different country each year and was in China for the first time.

Publicists from the JNU news center interviewed Prof. Jiang Zhengjin on the meeting's role in promoting JNU as a high-level university and on the development and prospects of JNU's pharmaceutical analysis disciplines.

(Prof.Jiang talking with journalists from JNU News Center)

News Center: Could you introduce to us the status of PBA from the angle of academia and the industry?

Prof. Jiang: PBA originated in the early 80s'. It has a professional committee consisting of about 15 internationally renowned experts. The organizer should bid to host the symposium two to three years in advance. Only when more than 65 percent of the members agree will the request be approved. The past 26 sessions were mostly held in the United States and Europe in turn, and the 27th in Asia for the third time, which is also the first held in China.

News Center: Why is the first stop in China held at JNU? What are the conditions for holding the symposium?

Prof. Jiang: The process is tortuous, since JNU has bid to host the PBA for three times from 2011 to 2014 as a result of JNU's high-level platform and international influence. To bid for the PBA successfully, the host needs to enjoy some academic reputation in the world, or its academic level can get recognition from the committee and international counterparts. Besides, it also needs a strong organizing ability.

News Center: What are the results of the PBA?

Prof. Jiang: We had a fruitful symposium, and it has caused a positive social reaction. First, the symposium provides a good platform for domestic scientists. Inviting over 30 editors in chief of SCI and other 30 editors, PBA organized a meeting where seven editors in chief from Journal of Chromatography A (IF=4.169), Journal of Chromatography B(IF=2.729) and Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis (IF=3.169) spent three hours explaining how to contribute, review, refute the comments and etc.Second, among the 102 academic reports during PBA, about 34 speakers are foreign experts and 68 speakers are domestic experts, which is a good opportunity for foreign experts to know our domestic academic level.Third, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary, JNU has a good atmosphere, which can add color to the PBA.

News Center: After six years of fighting, we got the chance to host the symposium. So in the past six years, what is the current situation of JNU's pharmaceutical analysis?

Prof.Jiang: We started from scratch, and we built it into JNU's featured discipline with international influence. The last five years have witnessed development in our drug analysis subject. From two full-time teachers in the beginning to an excellent team of five professors, five associate professors and four foreign professors: Prof. Jacques Crommen, an academician from the Royal Academy of Medical Sciences, Belgium; Prof. Ruin Moaddel, a leading expert from the U.S National Institutes of Health and chief editor of the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis; Prof. Govert Somsen, director of the Department of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Free University of Amsterdam; and Marianne Fillet, director of the Pharmaceutical Analysis Institute, Liege University, Belgium.

More than 30 national and provincial scientific research projects have been established, among which eight are for the National Natural Science Foundation. Hardware equipment of research instruments is worth nearly 10 million yuan, with 23 scientific research and analysis equipment sets from the U.K. JNU's Drug Analysis Lab has grown into a front-line drug analysis research center in Guangdong province. The research direction has also shifted from "material, composition" to "active ingredient", which is closely related to life sciences. In the last five years, we have published more than 36 SCI papers (18 in A1 Area).

We have trained 13 postgraduates and doctoral candidates, of whom eight have obtained National Scholarships for Graduates, two are provincial excellent students, two received the Excellent Graduate Thesis honor, three are outstanding graduates, seven have won poster awards at international conference, and two received about $1,500 USD in travel scholarships.