On July 2, 2024, the School of Medicine of NKU held a grand ceremony to celebrate the appointment of Professor Zhesheng Chen from St. John's University, USA, as a visiting professor of NKU, and an academic exchange symposium on the mechanism of tumor drug resistance. Chen Lingyi, Director of the Office of International Affairs, Xu Meng, Director of the School of Medicine, Chen Quan, Dean of the College of Life Sciences, and other leaders, experts and scholars from Nankai University, Tianjin University, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin First Central Hospital, Tianjin People's Hospital and other institutions attended the event. Nearly one hundred guests, teachers and students participated in the event. The appointment ceremony and academic exchange symposium were presided over by Yang Shuang, Executive Vice Dean of the School of Medicine, and Professor Zhang Sihe, respectively.

    On behalf of NKU, Chen Lingyi expressed sincere welcome and heartfelt gratitude to Professors Chen Zhesheng, Yang Donghua and all the guests for their attendance. He said in his speech that this visiting professor appointment ceremony and academic exchange symposium will contribute NKU's wisdom and strength to the development of China's cancer prevention and control cause, further promote the implementation of the Healthy China Initiative, and better serve China's modern health cause. He expressed his hope that, with the enthusiastic guidance and strong support of the two professors, the scientific research and educational innovation development of oncology at NKU will make new and greater progress in the future.

    Xu Meng introduced the historic evolution, student training and innovative development of the School of Medicine of NKU. He hoped to take advantage of the precious opportunity of engaging Professor Chen Zhesheng as a visiting professor of NKU to focus on cutting-edge disciplines, pool intellectual resources, and gather forces at home and abroad to pave a new path for the development of the School of Medicine.

    Afterwards, Chen Lingyi and Xu Meng presented Professor Chen Zhesheng with a visiting professor appointment certificate and souvenirs, and posed for photos together with the representatives of participating guests.

    After the appointment ceremony, Professor Chen Zhesheng gave an impressive academic report titled Strategies for Reversing Multidrug Resistance in Tumor to the participating teachers and students, in which he systematically described the history and current status of research on tumor drug resistance, and elaborated on several new strategies for reversing multidrug resistance in tumor, including the use of liposome-protein nanoparticles, FGFR4 inhibitor, and inhibition of non-classical immune checkpoint pathways. Professor Yang Donghua gave an impressive academic report titled Natural Products for Combating Cancer Drug Resistance to the participating teachers and students, in which she introduced the fourth-generation drug-for-drug new approach to reversing tumor drug resistance from the perspective of natural products, shared the application value of natural products in the field of tumor drug resistance, and elaborated her latest research results.

    During the interaction in the introduction to the visiting scholar program at St. John's University, USA, the two professors introduced the relevant details of visiting scholars and doctoral and master's degree admissions, and patiently answered questions from teachers and students on site. In addition, they shared their valuable experience in scientific research and teaching, and had in-depth exchanges on the mechanism of tumor drug resistance and the application of traditional Chinese medicine in tumor drug resistance. The two professors hoped to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with NKU in the future, and encouraged everyone to broaden their horizons and enrich their research and study experiences.

    It is reported that Professor Chen Zhesheng is a tenured professor at St. John's University, USA, Director of the Tumor Pharmacology Laboratory and Doctoral Supervisor at the Department of Pharmacy of St. John's University, and Dean of the Institute of Biotechnology of St. John's University. He is mainly engaged in the research of the mechanism of multidrug resistance in tumor and reversal agents for drug resistance. Professor Chen has published more than 500 SCI papers in professional journals, with an H-index of 88. He is currently the editor-in-chief of magazines like Drug Resistance Updates. As Executive Dean of the New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Professor Yang Donghua is dedicated to the research of biological specimen bank management, tumor biomarkers and anti-tumor drug resistance, and is the senior deputy editor-in-chief of several SCI journals. Taking the opportunity of this Visiting Professor Appointment Ceremony and Academic Exchange Symposium, the School of Medicine will further enhance international cooperation and exchange, continue to actively deepen the innovative and integrated development of medical teaching and research, and contribute to promoting the development of new medical disciplines and building a world-class university with NKU style and Chinese characteristics.