"As a matter of fact, I am interested in everything related to Chinese medicine." During many years' working experience in Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceuticals, Chen Kaixian clearly saw that a considerable part of the outstanding achievements of new drug research in Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceuticals and many domestic units came from traditional Chinese medicine and natural medicines.
As early as 1970s, researchers from Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (formerly known as China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine) and other units carried out artemisinin research according to the records of Artemisia annua in ancient Chinese medicine books. On this basis, Shanghai Institute of Medicine reformed the structure of artemisinin and invented artemether, a new antimalarial drug, which not only greatly reduced the recurrence rate of artemisinin, but also overcame the shortcoming of poor solubility of artemisinin itself and was successfully used in the rescue treatment of severe malaria. This example makes Chen Kaixian see the value of Chinese medicine and realize the significance of excavating and perfecting the treasure house of Chinese medicine.
In the 1990s, Shanghai Institute of Drugs conducted research on anti-Alzheimer's drugs. A new alkaloid, huperzine A, is extracted from Huperzia serrata. Huperzine A is a selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease. This research has caused great repercussions in the world. Chen Kaixian said happily: "At that time, China's research on new drugs was still relatively backward in the world, but this discovery made China ahead in this field, and many foreign research units also imitated this structure and carried out drug research and development." In addition, there are many successful examples of Chinese herbal medicine in the research of anti-tumor drugs and anti-cardiovascular drugs. Chen Kaixian, who is at the forefront of drug research and development, is convinced of the scientific nature and great value of traditional Chinese medicine.
Moreover, Chen Kaixian, with his keen discovery as a scientist, has a strong tendency to attach importance to and draw lessons from traditional medicine in the development of life science and medicine in the new century.
Chen Kaixian believes that system biology, a marginal subject, can be said to coincide with the core idea of TCM theory on the whole. Many bioscience experts in developed countries hold a very respectful attitude towards TCM and have a strong interest in the theory and practice of TCM. On the other hand, chemical biology, another emerging discipline in the field of life science, is also closely related to traditional Chinese medicine. Chemical biology pays attention to understanding the unknown mysteries in life science through the probe of chemical molecules. The treasure house of traditional Chinese medicine has accumulated a lot of experience in regulating human functions, which can play an important role in chemical biology research. Chen Kaixian said that Chinese scholars have found that berberine has the effect of lowering blood lipid, and its mechanism is different from statins, which may open the way for discovering new mechanisms of lipid-lowering drugs. These examples show that, on the one hand, Chinese medicine can provide valuable enlightenment for the development of systems biology and chemical biology; On the other hand, the progress of modern life science and medicine will undoubtedly promote the progress of Chinese medicine. For Chen Kaixian, who has been committed to the cross-integration of pharmacy, chemistry, physics, life science and computer science, this is of course a very challenging and promising career.
"I want to be a bridge on the journey of Chinese medicine development."
The arrival of Chen Kaixian seems like throwing a stone into a pool of spring water. There are people who wait and see, and there are people who expect.
In order to have a deeper understanding of the situation, at the beginning of taking office, Chen Kaixian visited the famous old Chinese medicine practitioners of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine one by one to listen to their opinions; Since then, he has held seminars again and again, talking with old Chinese medicine practitioners, researchers, teaching backbones and medical workers. Gradually, Chen Kaixian and the school leaders of the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine formed the idea of "grasping with both hands and being hard with both hands to achieve leap-forward development". This idea has not only won the favor of the old experts in the field of traditional Chinese medicine in Shanghai, but also filled the teachers and students of the school with expectations.
The so-called "grasping with both hands" means grasping the preservation and inheritance of Chinese medicine on the one hand and the modernization research of Chinese medicine on the other. For the first hand, Chen Kaixian emphasized the inheritance of the original work. It is to protect and inherit the essence of old Chinese medicine practitioners and Chinese medicine practitioners, and never abandon Chinese medicine, but to give full play to the characteristics and true colors of Chinese medicine. On the other hand, Chen Kaixian emphasizes high-level cooperation and promotes the intersection and combination of traditional Chinese medicine and modern science and technology. Chen Kaixian believes that the development of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine has reached a critical period. The University of Traditional Chinese Medicine moved from the old city to Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, becoming a part of Zhangjiang Medicine Valley planned by Shanghai. The important task we face is to shift from the development of extension to the improvement of connotation, strive to improve its academic status and give full play to the role of universities in promoting economic development and social progress. In order to achieve this goal, we must build a high-level talent team, produce high-level research results, and create interdisciplinary intersection and integration to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
Through the efforts of Chen Kaixian and relevant parties in the past six months, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine has signed an agreement with Shanghai Institute of Life Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, and the two sides will carry out comprehensive cooperation in personnel training and scientific research industrialization. The personnel of both sides can work part-time with each other, jointly train graduate students, use laboratories with each other, apply for projects with each other, and build a compound talent training base. Then, together with the school leaders, Chen Kaixian started the second leap-forward development, and cooperated with Leiyunshang Group, an old Chinese medicine enterprise in Shanghai, to promote the integration of Chinese medicine and Industry-University-Research, integrate the development of Chinese medicine into the development of the whole society, and further reflect the value of Chinese medicine itself.
Every choice, Chen Kaixian feels a lot of pressure. But at the same time, Chen Kaixian tried to turn pressure into power, and finally turned power into strength. On this journey of TCM development, Chen Kaixian compared himself to a bridge. Moreover, he has begun to use his accumulated energy for many years to build an "overpass" extending in all directions between production, learning and research of traditional Chinese medicine and other disciplines.