A strategy meeting for the Australia-China Centre of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (ACCTERM) was held at QUT today.
The meeting included summaries of achievements from Chinese and Australian collaborators with two new MOUs signed during the meeting between QUT and Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIC-CAS), and between QUT Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) and the School of Stomatology, Wuhan University in China.
QUT representatives, ACCTERM Chinese partners, as well as Queensland Department of Environment and Science representatives, and the Consulate-General of PR China attended the meeting in Brisbane.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil said QUT was committed to a long-term, mutually positive relationship with outstanding Chinese institutes.
“In addition to specific research, the Centre will allow additional staff and student exchanges, provide a platform for further research projects and opportunities to explore collaboration,” Professor Sheil said.
“The Centre positions Australia as a leader in the fields of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and biomaterials research and development, and a key research hub in the Asia-Pacific region.”
IHBI Executive Director Professor Lyn Griffiths said the MOU further consolidated research collaborations with prestigious Chinese institutions and had attracted research funding to support the research in Australia, China and internationally.
“This strategy meeting is a foundation for deeper and more extensive partnership between Australian and Chinese research partners,” Professor Griffiths said.
“ACCTERM supports the development of future research leaders through postdoctoral and PhD student mentorship by international leaders and international research exchanges.
“It also provides a key platform to enhance the transfer of knowledge and skills between Australia and China.
“The meeting provided the opportunity to summarise current achievements and facilitate collaborations that allow researchers in Australia and China to develop new and innovative solutions to a range of health issues.”
In the five years since its inception, ACCTERM has submitted 40 joint research grant applications with 29 awarded that attracted $9 million, 55 joint publications in high-impact journals and scholarly books.
ACCTERM has set up two joint laboratories with key partners in China: the QUT-Wuhan University Joint Laboratory in Regenerative Medicine and QUT-SIC-CAS Joint Laboratory of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering.
ACCTERM has established successful cooperation MOUs and agreements with leading Chinese universities to strengthen connections amongst ACCTERM partners and provide a platform for effective communication. Signed Chinese partners include SIC-CAS, Wuhan University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University and East China University of Science and Technology.
ACCTERM is a multi-institutional and multidisciplinary joint research centre that supports enhanced knowledge exchange, collaborative postgraduate training and the development of new collaborative research initiatives.
ACCTERM draws together new and longstanding research collaborations in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and aid in creating a highly visible hub to attract competitive research funding and collaborative projects in this field. The current partners in the Centre include four Australian universities and nine research institutes and universities in China:
- Queensland University of Technology
- The University of Queensland
- The University of Sydney
- The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- University of Western Australia
- Wuhan University
- Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Sun Yat-Sen University
- East China University of Science and Technology
- Nanjing University
- Zhejiang University
- Shanghai Jiaotong University
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology
- Guangzhou Medical University
The Australia-China Conference for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (ACCTERM) is held in Cairns from 22-24 November. The conference includes presentations by research leaders in the fields of stem cells, biomaterials, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and a competition for postgraduate students’ oral research presentations.
QUT Media contacts:
Niki Widdowson, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901 or media@qut.edu.au
