From September 27-28, the "Sichuan University's 125th Anniversary Series Celebration and the 7th Biomedical Big Data and Intelligent Technology Application Summit," hosted by Sichuan University and co-organized by the West China Medical Center of Sichuan University, the "Medicine + Information" Center of Sichuan University, the West China Clinical Medical College (West China Hospital), the School of Mathematics of Sichuan University, and the Sichuan Provincial Bioinformatics Society, was held in Chengdu.

    The conference, themed "Integration of Medical and Mathematical Sciences," was conducted in a hybrid format of online and offline participation. Over 250 people attended the event in person, while 14,764 watched online simultaneously. The summit brought together professionals and students from various fields including medical science, mathematics, engineering, and scientific research. It facilitated interdisciplinary research and collaborative communication in areas where mathematics intersects with clinical medicine, epidemiology, bioinformatics, and innovation in medical service models, creating an excellent platform for accelerating and deepening the integration of science, medicine, and engineering.

    At the opening ceremony, speeches were delivered by leaders and experts such as Liu Lunxu, Vice President of the West China Clinical Medical College (West China Hospital), Zhang Weian, Dean of the School of Mathematics at Sichuan University, Pan Hong, Standing Committee Member of Wuhou District Committee and Minister of Propaganda Department, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the West China Great Health Industry Functional Zone, He Yu, Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Big Data Center, Zhang Lin, Vice President of Sichuan University, Yang Jinhua, Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and Jiang Song, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Researcher at the Beijing Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics. Academician Li Anmin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also attended and guided the summit.

    In his speech, President Zhang Lin stated, "Medicine + and Information + are the dual engines driving the development of disciplines at Sichuan University. By integrating medicine with engineering and crossing disciplines, the university is vigorously building new disciplines in both medicine and engineering. The 'Medicine + Information' Center, as one of the 'three centers' promoting the integration of medicine and engineering at our university, relies on the basic medical research and high-quality data resources of West China Medical Center, gathers experts and technical resources from various colleges of science and engineering within the university, and strives to achieve 'system innovation, technological innovation, model innovation, and management innovation' in the fields of medical basic theory, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation services. This effort aims to propel West China Medical Center of Sichuan University to the forefront of world-class institutions and contribute to the Healthy China strategy and the construction of a global community of health for humanity."

    Vice President Liu Lunxu mentioned in his speech that this year marks the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, where the nation places increasing importance on basic and applied basic research. This aligns with our hospital's emphasis on research at the intersection of medicine and mathematics, actively undertaking national key projects in mathematics, and exploring frontiers in the integration of medicine and mathematics. The conference, themed "Integration of Medical and Mathematical Sciences," aims to build an academic exchange platform for the integration of these two foundational disciplines, inviting government, industry, academia, and research institutions to discuss the future of their integration.

    Dean Zhang Weian also mentioned in his speech that in recent years, the School of Mathematics at Sichuan University has focused on strengthening academic exchanges and cooperative research, actively creating platforms such as the "National Tianyuan Mathematics Southwest Center," "Sichuan National Applied Mathematics Center," "Chengdu International Mathematics Center," and the "Huawei-Sichuan University Mathematics Joint Laboratory." They will further promote the integration of "Mathematics +" with other schools within the university. Both medical and mathematical disciplines are traditional strengths of Sichuan University, providing a solid theoretical and practical foundation for their integration.

    At the ceremony, the unveiling ceremony of the West China Hospital-SenseTime Joint Laboratory, led by our hospital, was held. The laboratory aims to meet the development needs of artificial intelligence, robotics, and medical industries, as well as major national development strategies. It plans to produce a series of high-level research results with originality, breakthroughs, and significant impact on industry development, promoting technological innovation and upgrades in the fields of intelligent medicine and medical robotics, and accelerating the development of related industries. In addition, the "Multi-Omics Data Accelerated Analysis Platform," a joint development achievement by West China, Huawei, and Cyberspace, was launched, representing the effective "industry-academia-research" cooperation of our hospital and yielding excellent results with significant implications for the development of genomics research.

    In the following academic forum, academicians such as Academician Chen Runsheng from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Zhou Xiaohua from Peking University, and Professor Zhang Wei from our hospital discussed hot topics in the field of medical and mathematical integration, focusing on the application of precision medicine, computational systems biology, and lifelong health services. The guests also gave wonderful reports on "Scientific Computing in Biomedicine," "Statistical Model Analysis of Complex Medical Data," and "Medical Data Integration Modeling Analysis and Application."

    The conference provided a platform for researchers in the fields of medicine and mathematics to communicate and learn, helping to break down disciplinary barriers, explore new models of medical and mathematical integration, promote in-depth research in the integration of medicine and engineering, and truly benefit public health.

Source: West China Biomedical Big Data Research Center

Authors: Tian Chenyu, Gu Yonghong, Zeng Xiaoqian

Reviewed by: Chen Bin | Layout: Deng Qian