The  year 2021 marks ten years since the establishment of the Confucius Institute at  the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Nankai University. In order to  celebrate this anniversary, the Confucius Institute has arranged a series of  four lectures at the masters’ level to be exchanged between the University of  Glasgow and Nankai University. These lectures are an opportunity for students of  each university to learn from academic staff of the partner university across  different disciplines.

On the  afternoon of September 29, the medical sub-forum was successfully held online.  Nathan Woolley, Foreign Dean of the Confucius Institute at the University of  Glasgow, Zhang Ning, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation and  Exchange Office, Gao Haiyan, Director of the School of Medicine, and Zhang Yan,  Vice Dean of the School of Medicine, as well as representatives of teachers and  students attended the forum.

Nathan  Woolley, the Foreign Dean of the Confucius Institute, made an opening speech,  introducing the activities and the lecturer, Professor Jim Brewer of School of  Medicine, GLA. Associate Professor Shi Yi of the School of Medicine, NKU,  introduced the Chinese participants of this lecture and presided over the forum  throughout the course.

Gao  Haiyan reviewed the establishment and development of the Confucius Institute at  GLA, and hoped that the Confucius Institute at GLA will take the 10th  anniversary as an opportunity to continue to strengthen cooperation between the  two universities, deepen cooperation in medical disciplines, share curriculum,  and promote cooperation between the two sides into a new stage of  development.

Professor James  Brewer gave a special academic lecture entitled “Vaccine Adjuvants: Where they  go, how they get there, what they do and why should you care?” In the lecture,  Professor James Brewer first introduced the types of vaccine adjuvants and their  application status and development trends. Next, he focused on sharing the main  research results of his laboratory on vaccine adjuvants. With advanced  multiphoton imaging technology, he vividly demonstrated the interaction between  dendritic cells (DC) and T cells, and further clarified the specific effect of  vaccine adjuvants on the function of dendritic cells/antigen presenting cells  (DC/APC) and T cell activation. Finally, in the context of the global epidemic  of COVID-19, Professor James Brewer also introduced the important role of  vaccine adjuvants in the preparation of COVID-19 vaccines.

Professor James  Brewer's extensive and in-depth report fully demonstrated the academic charm of  biology, and triggered a lively discussion among participating teachers and  students. In the question-and-interaction session, the teachers and students of  the School of Medicine put questions that they were interested in to Professor  James Brewer, and Professor James Brewer answered the questions patiently and  meticulously and actively interacted with the teachers and students  present.

The Confucius  Institute at GLA was co-founded by NKU and GLA in 2011. In the past ten years,  the two sides have made positive contributions to the cultural exchanges between  China and the UK with the core of cultivating Chinese language talents and  promoting cultural exchanges. In 2016, it was awarded “Advanced Confucius  Institute”.