Suzhou New District to get new medical research institute

Representatives from Suzhou New District, the University of Birmingham and Southeast University sign a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the Joint Research Institute of Bio-medical Engineering on May 25. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]

The Joint Research Institute of Bio-medical Engineering is about to settle in Suzhou New District, according to the signing ceremony held in the district on May 25.

The institute is co-founded by Suzhou New District, the University of Birmingham in Britain and Southeast University in China.

The University of Birmingham, a public research university, leads the world in medical and biological sciences while Southeast University tops Chinese universities in biomedical engineering.

Based on the British university's Institute of Applied Health Research and the Chinese university's Institute of Biomedical Devices in Suzhou, the upcoming institute will focus on the development of medical devices and the cultivation of joint doctoral students.

"The research institute will surely inspire more technological achievements yielded in Suzhou New District," Wu Gang, vice-president of Southeast University said at the signing ceremony.

Tim Jones, vice-president of the University of Birmingham, believed that it would be a great opportunity for his university to commercialize their newly developed technologies.

Suzhou New District is home to more than 200 companies involved in medical devices, seeing an annual growth rate of 20 percent in the output value of the medical device industry.

Representatives from the University of Birmingham learn about the medical devices industry in Suzhou New District. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]