PAIR Distinguished Lecture Series: Prof. CUI Zhanfeng of Oxford delivers lecture on "Crosswalk between Engineering, Biology and Medicine"

Prof. CUI Zhanfeng, Donald Pollock Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Oxford and Founding Director of Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research, delivered the 18th PAIR Distinguished Lecture titled “Crosswalk between Engineering, Biology and Medicine” on 23 April 2024. The lecture attracted about 100 participants to join in person and captivated an online viewing audience of over 11,200 from different countries and regions to watch the live broadcast on multiple social media platforms, including YouTube, Weibo, Bilibili, etc.

The lecture commenced with a welcome speech and speaker introduction by Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of PAIR, followed by a presentation by Prof. Cui. He first shared his scientific journey by reminiscing about the old days when he moved abroad to develop an academic career after graduating in China and gradually became a highly successful scientist. Next, he explained the importance of interdisciplinary research and shared how the combination of medical science and engineering enables the development of health technologies such as imaging, keyhole surgery, in vitro diagnostics, in vitro fertilisation, etc. Prof. Cui emphasised that scientists are to “discover” and find out “how a thing happens” whereas engineers are to “create” and “make things happen”. He then gave some advice on how to do well in interdisciplinary research and shared some innovations in microbioreactor and point-of-care testing developed by him and his team which has achieved great success in research commercialisation and made significant contributions to drug discovery and public health. To conclude, Prof. Cui shared that scientific success is based on many factors, including team, facilities, timing, luck, etc., and encouraged the next generation of engineers and scientists to consider a career in biomedical engineering, an exciting and rewarding domain.

Following the lecture, a lively and insightful question-and-answer session was moderated by Ir Prof. ZHANG Ming, Director of the Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology (RISports), Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chair Professor of Biomechanics. The audience had fruitful discussions with Prof. Cui.

Please click here for an online review.