On May 20, Cheng Jing, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and Chair Professor of the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, served as the keynote speaker for the tenth lecture of the general elective course -- "Medical Frontiers and Challenges". The lecture was hosted by Cao Xuetao, President of Nankai University.

Cheng has long been engaged in biotechnological research related to basic medicine and clinical medicine, and has made significant contributions and innovations in biochip research. In this lecture, under the theme of Attaching Equal Importance to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine for Translational Medical Studies, he explained the importance of biomedical engineering in simple terms, taking the domestically much-needed molecular typing chip developed by his team for disease prevention, diagnosis and prognosis and multiple biochips invented under his leadership as examples.

Cheng also detailed how biomedicine can help in precision diagnosis and treatment of disease, taking multiparameter real-time biochemical testing based on lab-on-a-chip, AI-based aided ophthalmologic diagnosis and HIFU non-invasive treatment as examples. He stressed that TCM should be inherited and explored with  advanced scientific and technological means, including molecular function analysis and scientific connotation interpretation for TCM materials with high-throughput genetic sequencing as well as developing modernized and engineered TCM instruments.

As for helping persons with disabilities, he introduced how biochip and other innovative technologies can be applied for molecular diagnostics, especially on intervention of birth defects, major chronic disease prevention and individualized diagnosis and treatment with test for genetic deafness in newborns, strength training in the elderly compromised by physical mobility impairment and managing chronic disease in the community as examples.

Cheng also explained the fully-integrated chip and mobile laboratory developed by his team for fast on-site COVID-19 test. These new technologies can ensure safer, faster and more accurate novel coronavirus testing and screening.

At the end of the lecture, Cheng shared with the students his idea that healthcare workers can help patients to release their emotions with art. By integrating art appreciation, psychology, TCM, brain science, multimedia and other technological means, a system to support mental health with non-drug treatment and physical conditioning involving music, colors, cultural relics appreciation as its features can be developed to help patients with mental adjustment. It can also support endocrine regulation and immunomodulation, improve patient’s health and slow disease progression.

(Edited and translated by Nankai News Team)