Author | Shi Fangyuan

Editor | Chen Caixian

AI Technology Review News, on the morning of November 1, 2022, Professor Yan Ning announced his resignation as a professor at Princeton University in his keynote speech at the “2022 Shenzhen Global Innovative Talent Forum” to establish the Academy of Medical Sciences in Shenzhen.

(Image source: One Shenzhen, live broadcast of 2022 Shenzhen Global Innovative Talent Forum)

1
Yan Ning’s people

Yan Ning, born on November 21, 1977 in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, is a structural biologist. Yan Ning studied in the Department of Biology, Tsinghua University from 1996 to 2000, and obtained a bachelor’s degree; from 2000 to 2004, he studied in the Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, under the tutelage of Professor Shi Yigong, and obtained a Ph.D. Department is engaged in postdoctoral research. In 2007, he returned to China as a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Medicine of Tsinghua University. At the age of 30, he became the youngest professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Life Sciences of Tsinghua University.

Yan Ning is mainly engaged in the systematic research on the structure and mechanism of transmembrane transport proteins related to important diseases, and led his research team to achieve a series of landmark scientific research results, especially the first analysis of human glucose transport in the world. The three-dimensional crystal structure of the protein GLUT1 is known as “a 50-year-old unsolved problem”. She has also made outstanding achievements in the field of ion channel research, analyzing the crystal structure of voltage-gated sodium ion channels, and using the latest cryo-electron microscopy technology to obtain the high-resolution structure of the largest calcium ion channel RyR1. So far, he has published more than 10 papers in international mainstream journals such as “Nature”, “Science” and “Cell”.

In 2016, Yan Ning was named “China Science Star” and “Influencing China 2017 Scientific Person of the Year” for his great contribution to the field of life sciences.

In 2017, Yan Ning left Tsinghua University and became the first Shirley M. Tilghman tenured professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. He was elected as a foreign academician of the National Academy of Sciences in April 2019 and elected in April 2021. Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The discussion of “Yan Ning was not an academician in China but became an academician in the United States” became a hot topic for a while.

2
Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences

Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences is a scientific research institution with a “new mechanism” established by the Shenzhen Municipal Government, named by the central government and the state, and located in Pingshan District. The world’s top medical research and funding institutions, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, aims to become a world-renowned medical research institution by the middle of this century.

Zhou Liping, director of the Shenzhen Health and Health Commission, who is in charge of the establishment of the Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences, said, “Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences is not just a simple research institution, but its core function is to undertake the public management of medical science and technology research entrusted by the government. and service functions. Its construction idea is to become a hub-type scientific research institution, which is equivalent to a ‘scientific research organization that organizes scientific research’. ”

Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences is essentially a statutory body similar to the “Qianhai Administration”. It can make use of Shenzhen’s special zone legislative power to fix a series of first and foremost practices in the form of laws. “One Court, One Law” is issued by the government. “Administrative Measures of Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences”, which independently runs the academy in accordance with the law, unlike traditional institutions. In the future, which mode of operation in the world is the most efficient and most conducive to the achievements of production, education and research, it is likely to be used by the Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences. It will also become a collaborative innovation institution, linking universities and research institutes with projects and funds, providing services for their clinical research and transformation, and serving as a central institution to solve the common problems in the allocation of medical science and technology resources in China. problems, and establish a “1+N+X” collaborative innovation body for clinical research and translation.

Zhou Liping said: “Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences will build a basic support platform for medical science and technology, including biological sample banks, animal experiment centers, health science data centers, etc., which can be used by research institutions, enterprises and researchers in the city and even at home and abroad. .”

The funds of Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences will be composed of three parts: special government funding, social funding and transformation of income. Following the example of NIH, it will set up internal and external projects at the same time. The external projects will pass the “bidding system”, “reward system” and “horse racing system”. In this way, it is open to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the whole country, and even the world, and it supports institutions or scholars outside the hospital to conduct research or implement cross-disciplinary collaborative research.

In addition, the “new mechanism” of the Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences is also particularly eye-catching. It will set up posts independently, follow the principles of council governance and academic autonomy. The Academic Committee is the highest academic institution in the hospital, respecting the scarcity of scientific research talents. Implement market-based compensation and socialized employment. At present, Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences is recruiting deans globally, and Yan Ning’s return may be related to this.

3
Yan Ning’s choice

Yan Ning’s experience of going to the United States and returning to China is a microcosm of the current global competition and flow of scientific and technological talents. Yan Ning’s decision to leave in 2017 caused heated discussions at home and abroad. Some have attributed Yan Ning’s departure to China’s lack of investment in basic research. Others believe that Yan Ning’s move to the United States is just a personal choice and part of the free flow of global talent, which also proves that Chinese scientists have gained global recognition.

And Yan Ning himself talks about going to Princeton because “the fear of staying in the same environment for too long will lead to personal stagnation, and getting used to it, a new environment will bring me pressure and inspiration, which may help me New breakthroughs have been made in science.” This time, Yan Ning returned to China full-time to join the Shenzhen Academy of Medical Sciences, which may also illustrate this point.

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