The medical schools of the University of British Columbia and the University
of Hong Kong and their affiliated teaching hospitals have announced a major
new research and education partnership.
The two medical schools will collaborate on an extensive program of research
and education in diseases of the heart and brain, the greatest causes of death
and disability in advanced societies on both sides of the Pacific.
The collaboration, to be known as the Pacific Education and Research Liaison
in Cardiovascular Research and Neuroscience (PEARL), was recently announced
in Vancouver by UBC Dean of Medicine Dr. John Cairns and HKU Dean of Medicine
Prof. S.P. Chow. The agreement was announced in Hong Kong in April.
PEARL is the most comprehensive collaboration entered into by either school
and sets the stage for highly productive new research initiatives between the
two Pacific Rim centres of expertise. The teaching hospitals involved include
St. Mary’s in Hong Kong, Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, B.C.’s
Children’s Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital.
“The partnerships will build on the common ties of business and family between
Vancouver and Hong Kong,” Cairns said. “PEARL will be supported by an active
and ongoing exchange of people — scientists, students and practising specialists
— as well as by high-speed electronic and telecommunications links. It promises
both universities and their affiliated teaching hospitals an opportunity for
research, cultural and economic growth.”
Signed on the eve of Hong Kong’s historic transition from British governance
to Chinese rule, both partners see this collaboration as a vote of confidence
in a strong future for Hong Kong as a part of the People’s Republic of China,
and in a strong and fruitful relationship between Vancouver, Hong Kong and China,
he added.
The neuroscience collaboration will help in the search for new therapies for
neurological disease and disorders, many of which are increasing as the population
ages. These include stroke, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Studies will also examine traumatic injuries to the brain and spinal cord,
as well as genetic and molecular bases of neurological and psychiatric disorders.
A high-speed bilateral communication link will enable scientists to operate
as an institute without walls, and researchers on both sides of the Pacific
will have access to the same gene and brain-mapping facilities.
The cardiovascular collaboration will investigate blood vessel and heart muscle
diseases. Such diseases, particularly atherosclerotic disease, are the leading
cause of death in Canada and increasing rapidly in Hong Kong’s Chinese population.
For example, PEARL will provide the ability to study atherosclerotic disease
in Hong Kong — where cholesterol counts have almost reached U.S. levels —
and compare it to first-generation immigrants and subsequent generations of
Vancouver’s Chinese population.
This offers an opportunity to compare the roles environmental factors may
play in this disease. The results can also be compared to Vancouver’s Caucasian
population.
Education will also play a key role in PEARL. Joint training of undergraduates,
postgraduates and post doctoral fellows will be offered, as will exchanges.
Short, intensive courses on specialty topics will be jointly taught by faculty
members. Exchange of expertise in hospital-based care will also be possible.
Another important component of PEARL is community outreach. Plans include
public seminars and newsletters to assist the public in disease prevention and
control.
