Han Ximin

1824295095@qq.com

WORLD-RENOWNED structural biologist Nieng Yan will leave her teaching job at Princeton University in the U.S. and join the founding team of Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation as a full-time member.

She made the announcement while delivering a speech titled “There and Back Again” at the Shenzhen Global Innovation Forum of Talents, which was themed “Pursuit of Excellence and Virtue into the Future.” The event was held both online and offline at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Futian District yesterday, the 6th Shenzhen Talent Day.

She was one of the seven keynote speakers — five prestigious scientists and scholars, and two local entrepreneurs — who shared their insights on innovation and establishing a high-level talent pool in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

“I prefer to call Shenzhen the city of dreams, where I want to realize my next career dream,” Yan said during the speech. “That is in 10 to 20 years, Shenzhen will hold an important mark in the world of biomedicine. When people talk about biomedicine in the GBA, Shenzhen will be the first city to pop out of their mind.”

Yan, born in 1977 in East China’s Shandong Province, received her bachelor’s degree from Tsing-hua University and then went on to finish her Ph.D. at Princeton University in 2004. She is a Shirley M. Tilghman Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton.

She said she was excited to receive Shenzhen’s invitation to participate in the founding of its medical academy.

The academy, upon its completion in 2025, strives to become a world-famous medical institute by mid-century, as per a city government gazette released in 2021. Yan hoped the academy will not only make breakthroughs in medical research, but also work out an effective system facilitating the commercialization of scientific achievements.

“Shenzhen is a young and vibrant city of infinite possibilities,” Yan said, adding that “after setting foot in the city, I feel it is also a great place to live in.”

Also at the forum, Zheng Yongnian, a professor from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) and president of Qianhai Institute of International Affairs, said Shenzhen should stick to opening up to build itself into an open talent hub to help realize modernization through a Chinese path.

“Shenzhen should play a leading role in building the GBA a talent hub and promoting coordinated development of the GBA,” Zheng said. “Without innovative and entrepreneurial talents, as well as open markets, there won’t be a good investment environment for venture capitals. The GBA cities, which show great potential, should realize co-development through integration and innovation.”

Among the speakers was Efim Zelmanov, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, an international member of the  Chinese Academy of Sciences, chair professor of the Department of Mathematics of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), and scientific director of the SUSTech International Center for Mathematics funded by the Shenzhen city government.

“Shenzhen needs first-class math education and research capabilities. Its sustainable development relies on science and education,” Zelmanov said.

In 2017, the city declared Nov. 1 as Shenzhen Talent Day to underscore its high regard for talents. According to the talent bureau, the city now boasts 22,000 high-level professionals, 190,000 overseas-educated personnel and 86 full-time academicians. The total number of all kinds of talents is 6.62 million.