This forum was chaired by Professor Kevin Shakesheff, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Nottingham UK, Professor Mike George, Li Dak Sum Chair Professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, and Professor Tao Wu, the Dean of Faculty of Science of Engineering at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, and sponsored by the University of Nottingham and Ningbo Municipal government. More than 100 participants in chemistry and pharmacy related field from Universities and enterprises have attended this forum. 

Professor Kevin Shakesheff and Mr. Xiaonan He from Ningbo Science and Technology Bureau gave the welcome speech. The speakers were from different universities and industry, including two academicians of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Professor Yongqiang Tu from Lanzhou University and Professor Yu-Fen Chaw from Ningbo University, the Fellow of both Academia of Science of Singapore and Academia of Sciences of Malaysia, Professor LOH Teck Peng from Nanyang Technological University, three professors from the University of Nottingham, i.e. Li Dak Sum Chair Professor Michael George; Professor Ross Denton, who has just published a journal on Science Magazine; and Professor Michael Stocks, who has more than 20 years’ industrial experience in pharmaceutical industries, including AstraZeneca, and two experts from international pharmaceutical companies (Dr. Lei Chi from AstraZeneca and Dr. Yi Liu from Ashland China).

In this forum, academician Yongqiang Tu introduced his research progress in the synthesis of drug molecules and natural compounds; academician Yu-Fen Chawelaborated her research on the nitrogen phosphorylation in proteins, and pointed out a new future for the synthesis and development of drug molecules; Professor LOH Teck Peng emphasised his exploration on green synthetic methods in the development of new drugs, showing a bright future in the development and synthesis of new drugs under milder, less toxic and less polluting conditions; Professor Michael George shows how photochemistry, flow chemistry, electrochemistry and thermochemistry can be applied to scale-up production of pharmaceutical molecules such as artemisinin in a greener process. In addition to this, Professor Ross Denton from the chemistry department and Professor Michael Stocks from the department of pharmacy of University of Nottingham, Professor Chein-Tien Chen from National Tsinghua University, and Professor Zhidong Liu from Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine delivered important reports on molecular catalytic synthesis, drug delivery and the development of new fluorescent antagonists.

Dr. Lei Chi and Dr. Yi Liu respectively gave detailed speech on the development ecosystem of Chinese pharmaceutical development and the application of medicinal adhesives. The forum also had a poster’s presentation session.

Since 2017, the (Ningbo) Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Sciences Forum has been held for three times. The success of this year’s conference is attributed to the support of Ningbo Municipal Government and the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, owed to the participation of the distinguished speakers and guests, and benefited from the support of student volunteers. It's hard to say how grateful we are, just let's look forward to meeting again next year!