“Professor James Naismith Gives Lectures at Sichuan University

On September 21, Professor James Naismith, an internationally renowned structural biologist and chemical biologist, and the first director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute in the UK, was invited by a member institution of Sichuan International Medical Exchange & Promotion Association (SCIMEA) - the National Key Laboratory of Biotherapy in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, to the West China Medicine School (East) Campus of Sichuan University to give a theme report entitled Evolution of Large Volume Electron Tomography, which attracted nearly 200 people including scholars of structural biology, teachers and students.

Professor James Naismith is an academician of the Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences, and a professor of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford. He is not only a foreign expert of the short-term Thousand-talent Program of State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy at Sichuan University, but also he led the computer software CCP4 program for structural biology, which greatly reduces the technical threshold for X-ray crystal diffraction data processing and promotes the wide application of structural biology. Rosalind Franklin Institute, where he works, was established in commemoration of Rosalind Franklin, a female scientist who started the first DNA structure and pioneered the study of viral structures.

According to Professor James Naismith, Rosalind Franklin Institute is dedicated to combining multidisciplinary research and engineering techniques to develop transformative technologies for life science research, creating innovative imaging technologies from single molecules to complex life systems for better observation of life activities and life phenomena, and promoting drug development and prevention of human diseases. At the meeting, focusing on "The Institute’s Progress and Vision on Transformative Imaging Technology", Professor James Naismith conducted a heated discussion with the participants. He pointed out that the new imaging technology can create 3D images, and Rosalind Franklin Institute will also actively utilize its scientific advantages in bioimaging and structural biology to develop and apply new medical treatments and technologies in life sciences. The present scholars, teachers and students gave enthused response through active interact with James Naismith, raised their questions and opinions, gained new understanding of the application of transformative imaging technology in the medical field, and benefited a lot.

Theme Report 

Professor James Naismith in Report

On-site Q&A and Interact