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Professor Yizhi Liu of ZOC Awarded the 4th “Fulan Award” of SYSU

Source: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University

Edited by: Liu Nian

 

On the afternoon of November 19, the 4th Award Ceremony of “Fulan Award” of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) was held in Swasey Hall in the South Campus. Ceremony attendees include Chunsheng Chen, selection committee adviser of the Award and party secretary of SYSU, Ping Li, deputy party secretary of SYSU, selection committee judges of the "Fran Award", and Yunhe Chen and Xiuwan Liu couple, donors of the "Fulan Award". Professor Yizhi Liu, director of the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (ZOC), received the honor of the "Fulan Award" and spoke on behalf of award recipients.

The “Fulan Award” of SYSU was established by Yunhe Chen, alumnus of the Department of Chemistry graduating in 1978 and Xiuwan Liu, alumna of the Department of Physics graduating in 1979, to reward individuals and teams with outstanding scientific and academic contributions in schools of arts, science, and medicine of SYSU, in order to enhance the level of scientific research and promote the sustainable development of SYSU. From 2010 onwards, five winners will be selected every two years (team or individual). “Fulan” means lotus and orchid in Chinese. “In themselves, lotus is noble and unsullied, and orchid is fragrant.” The award advocates the virtues symbolized by the flowers: and delivers a message that  the founding couple’s as affection to SYSU is as grass and flowers, repaying the kindness of warm spring sun.

 

Chunsheng Chen, on behalf of the alma mater, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the couple alumni, and extended earnest congratulations to the award-winning scholars and the teams. In his speech, Secretary Chen mentioned that, the award-winners are excellent academic representatives in various disciplines with first-class knowledge. “Fulan Award” is not only the recognition of their outstanding achievements, but also promotion of the value orientation of serving the society. He expressed his hope that the whole faculty and student body can fully understand and carry forward the “Fulan Award” spirit. Subsequently, Chaofen Li, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chairman of the selection committee of the Award, and Professor Chunsheng Chen awarded the “Fulan Award” certificate and trophy, in recognition of a series of breakthroughs in Liu’s research on cataract and stem cells.

 

Professor Yizhi Liu, director of ZOC and the Eye Hospital, gave a speech as the representative of the award recipients. He said, as the supreme award of science and technology in SYSU, the “Fulan Award” shows the mental state of holding high ideals by simple living beyond utility, promotes the spirit of devotion, and expresses the deep affection of alumni for the alma mater. Despite the hustle and bustle of the world, science and technology workers should not pursue fame and fortune. The “Fulan Award” is established to encourage people to do original research with great concentration, to work for contribution to the world and mankind, and to enhance the reputation of SYSU. He said that he would deliver the university's care and alumni's expectations to all the teams of ZOC, to encourage them to carry on with their efforts to reach the science and technology heights.

 

Professor Yizhi Liu, chief scientist in the National 973 Program, director of ZOC, dean of Eye Hospital, director of the State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and vice-president of Society of Ophthalmology of Chinese Medical Association. He has been engaged in the prevention and treatment of eye diseases that can result in blindness for more than 30 years, and is one of the pioneers of minimally invasive cataract surgery. He innovated the technique of cataract surgery specially-tailored for Chinese people, and won the second prize of National Award for Science and Technology Progress. He created a new method to stimulate endogenous stem cell to regenerate functional lens, and applied it on the clinical treatment of infantile cataract.  The original paper on this innovation was published in Nature, and has been appraised as a major breakthrough in regenerative medicine. As a corresponding author, Liu has published 80 articles in SCI journals including Nature, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, and Lancet. He is also the recipient of Chinese Young Science and Technology Award, Chinese Government Award of Excellence in Healthcare, the National May 1 Labor Medals and other honors.