Inheriting the past and ushering in the future—the 8th Annual Joint Conference of University of Chicago and PUMCH Liver Surgery: Advances in Treating Solid Tumors and Academic Skills
Summer has come and passed, and the wind is ready to start blowing. Before autumn leaves flutter down, the 8th Annual Joint Conference of University of the Chicago and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Liver Surgery: Advances in Treating Solid Tumors and Academic Skills was successfully held from 6th to 7th September at the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. The conference was jointly sponsored by the National Association of Health Industry and Enterprise Management (NAHIEM), Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Liver Surgery, Hepatobiliary Surgery and Nutrition (HBSN), AME Publishing Company, University of Chicago Global Surgery, University of Chicago Department of Surgery, and University of Chicago Center in Beijing. This year’s conference focused on the multidisciplinary approach necessary to treat patients with solid abdominal tumors. There was a strong emphasis on the new techniques and approaches for managing these tumors, but also it highlighted leaders in gastroenterology and medical oncology fields. The following are the six sessions of this year’s conference: surgical approaches for hepatobiliary cancers, systemic therapy for HCC & NAFLD, pancreatectomy & transplantation immunology, cultivate hepatocytes in vitro, advance in treatment of solid cancers, and finally, academic and publishing skills.
Session I surgical approaches for hepatobiliary cancers
The conference started at 1:00 pm on September 6th. Firstly, Prof. Yilei Mao, Editor-in-Chief of HBSN and professor of surgery from PUMC, expressed his cordial welcome to all the participants and made introductions to the conference; then, the first session began. The first speaker was Prof. Robert S. Warren from the University of California, San Francisco. He delivered the keynote speech, of which the topic was novel models for precision oncology in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Following him, another five speakers delivered their speeches, respectively; then, all the speakers took a group photo and had a coffee break (Figure 1).
Session II systemic therapy for HCC & NAFLD
At 4:00 pm, the second session began, hosted by Prof. Haitao Zhao and Prof. Wenbin Li. The topic was systemic therapy for HCC & NAFLD. Firstly, Dr. Ahmed Kaseb delivered a speech about the topic of the future outlook of systemic therapy of HCC in the immunotherapy era: is there a potential curative role? Next, Dr. Carlos J. Pirola and Dr. Silvia Sookoian delivered their speeches respectively. After the first day’s conference, speakers and organizers had dinner together (Figure 2).
Session III pancreatectomy & transplantation immunology
The second day’s conference began with the keynote speech delivered by Prof. Ashley Dennison, and his topic was pancreatectomy and islet cell transplantation. The following speakers were Prof. Henrik Petrowsky and Prof. John Chabot (Figure 3).
Session IV cultivate hepatocytes in vitro
In the fourth session, Prof. Shichun Lu, Prof. Pengyu Huang, and John Collins delivered their speeches respectively (Figure 4).
Session V advance in treatment of solid cancers
After lunch, the fifth session began and went smoothly in a dynamic academic atmosphere (Figure 5).
Session VI academic and publishing skills
The final session was around academic and publishing skills. In this session, four experienced doctors gave advice for improving academic writing and publishing skills for young doctors. At the end of the conference, J. Michael Millis organized a discussion among all the speakers and the audience and then addressed the closing speech.
Inheriting the past and ushering in the future
According to Sir Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Both experiences and innovations are essential.
In each session of the conference, after the speaker finished his/her speech, the audience came up with their questions and suggestions actively. It was also noteworthy that the iFLY TEK provided and applied simultaneous translation facilities for the first time and played an important role during this year’s conference.
This year’s conference has ended successfully and effectively. Let us look forward to the conference next year! Your participation is warmly welcomed!
Acknowledgments
We want to express our appreciation to all the speakers for their marvelous speeches. And we are grateful to the sponsors and organizers for making this conference reality. Also, thanks to editors of AME for their revision of this news report.
Footnote
Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
