SABPA eNewsletter, February 2004
Table of Contents
- San Diego BioPharma Conference 2004 (May 15)
- Understanding American Public School System (May 9)
- Biotech Entrepreneurship Conference (May 8)
- Luncheon and Scholarship Presentation
- Sichuan Drug Administration Delegates
- The SABPA Board Meeting
- Nature Forum 2004 “China-California connection”
- Sci-Tech Delegation from Weihai
- The HUPO 3rd Annual World Congress
1. San Diego BioPharma Conference 2004
San Diego BioPharma Conference 2004 will be held on Saturday May 15, 2004 at Marriott Hotel, La Jolla. Along with other interesting presentations, two famous drugs developed in San Diego will be presented by the keynote speakers, Siegfreid Reich from Pfizer and Mitchell E. Reff from Biogen Idec. Viracept is used in combination therapy for effective treatment of HIV infection and Rituxan is the first monoclonal antibody therapy approved in U.S. for the treatment of cancer. The success stories of Viracept and Rituxan from two of the most successful local companies represent the best R&D San Diego has to offer as a hotbed of biotech activity.
SABPA is the leading organizer of San Diego BioPharma Conference 2004. SDCA and ACS, San Diego are the co-organizers. The symposium Chairman is Dr. Weiguo Su. This will be the third one in the series of Annual Symposium on Biopharmaceuticals. The previous two were very successful with more than four hundred attendees each year, most of which are researchers and professionals from local institutes and biotech/pharmaceutical companies. More information about the symposium can be found at the SABPA website www.sabpa.org. Direct links are also available as follows.
Program Details: http://www.sabpa.org/Events/events.html
Registration: http://www.sabpa.org/Events/Event_reg_BioP_May-04.asp
Poster Abstract: http://www.sabpa.org/Events/Call%20for%20Abstracts_SDBioP_05_03.doc
Be a Sponsor: http://www.sabpa.org/Events/May_symposium_call_for_Sponsor.doc
2. Understanding American Public School System
This upcoming event will help parents to have a close look at American public school system. The guest speaker Mr. Benito Sy, who has 35-year experience of working in public schools, will talk about public school vs. private school, the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, parent’s involvement in children’s education, and alternative programs and resources. The event is organized by San Diego Chinese Association with the co-organizer San Diego Huaxia Chinese School. It will be held at 1:30-3:30PM, Sunday, May 9, 2004 at Miramar College Auditorium (10440 Black Mountain Road, San Diego, CA 92126). Please visit www.sdcausa.org or contact info@sdcausa.org for more information.
3. Biotech Entrepreneurship Conference
This upcoming event will be organized by VentureForth, a UCSD based student organization, on May 8, 2004, at the Institute of Americas, UCSD. The five panels are consisted of 21 speakers who are successful entrepreneurs, legal attorneys and investors in Biotech industry. Detailed info such as speakers, their bios, participating organizations can be seen at www.ventureforth.org/biotech.
4. Luncheon and Scholarship Presentation
SABPA presented a scholarship check to a Prof. Yun-Peng Wu from Chongqing University during a luncheon on March 2, 2004. SBAPA has been administering the Global Biotechnology & Biomedical Science Online Education Scholarship. This scholarship program was established by Professors Y.C. Fung and Gin Gee for purpose of supporting Chinese students to take a UCSD Extension online course “Biotechnology From a Global Perspective”. The luncheon was held in Peking Palace Restaurant with 22 participants. With support of the scholarship, the course "Biotech from Global Perspective" was launched on April 12 at Chongqing University with 22 students. The President of International Affairs of CQU greatly appreciated the contributions of SABPA in this collaborative course. Professor Gin Gee, a SABPA member, has been actively involved in establishment of the scholarship and its administration in China. More detail of the course is available at http://bioscience.ucsd.edu/GlobalBiotech.html.
5. Sichuan Drug Administration Delegates
Sichuan Drug Administration Delegates visited San Diego in March 2004. Dr. Xiangming Fang, SABPA director and VP for China/Pacific Affairs, hosted a lunch seminar on March 15 at UCSD CONNECT to welcome the delegates. During the seminar, two invited speakers, Dr. Suixiong Cai (Maxium) and Dr. Thomas Fu (Pfizer) presented on Drug Discovery and Development. The delegates expressed strong interest in new drug application and approvals, and managements of the drugs in the US. The delegates and participants also exchanged information about in Biomedical partnership and business opportunities in Southern California and in China.
6. The SABPA Board Meeting
The SABPA Board of Directors conducted its first 2004 official meeting on February 21, 2004 at the conference room of GenWay Biotech. SABPA President, Dr. Zhenping Wu presented the State of SABPA report (organizational and financial status) and summarized recent and future activities by the organization. The latest important milestone for SABPA was that the organizational infrastructure had been established. Dr. Holly Yin, SABPA’s Secretary, guided the BOD and reviewed SABPA’s current by-law. It was unanimously agreed that certain items in the by-law need further consideration. Also discussed were issues of election of directors, plans for the annual symposium, and guidelines to work with overseas visiting groups.
7. Nature Forum 2004 “China-California connection: A Biomedical Alliance”
Nature Publishing Group, in collaboration with the UCSD Institute of Molecular Medicine, presented a one-day symposium on March 30, 2004 at the Price center Ballroom of UCSD. SABPA was a co-sponsor of the forum. The forum highlighted the opportunities of forging strategic biomedical alliances between California and China in the area of molecular medicine. Please visit www.sabpa.org for more information.
8. Sci-Tech Delegation from Weihai
SDCA hosted a special evening on March 29th with a Sci-Tech Delegation from Weihai, China. One major mission of the delegation is to explore possible cooperation with Chinese professionals who are seeking to establish business in China. Vice Mayor of Weihai, Mr. Tianxiang Dong, introduced the city of Weihai for her unique strength, strategies to start a venture in China, and successful business models.
9. The HUPO 3rd Annual World Congress
The HUPO 3rd Annual World Congress will be held in Beijing, China, Oct. 25-27,2004. "PROTEOMICS: DECODING THE GENOME" will be the theme of the Congress. The congress aims to showcase the progress of proteomic sciences and related disciplines, to promote global collaboration, and to cultivate a new generation of scientists. More information can be found at www.hupo2004.cn.