On the morning of November 4, 2019, Professor Kazunori Kataoka, a professor of Tokyo University in Japan and a foreign academician of the National Academy of Engineering of the United States, attended the Forefront Forum of Chongqing University and gave a wonderful academic lecture to our teachers and students upon invitation. Before the academic lecture, Professor Cai Kaiyong, dean of the School of Bioengineering of Chongqing University met with Professor Kataoka, and the two had in-depth exchanges and discussions on biomedical, biomaterial application and development frontier, scientific research cooperation and other issues; Associate Professor Jiang Qihui of the School of Bioengineering of Chongqing University presided at the lecture.

The academic lecture was held in Meeting Room 504, Main Teaching Building, Campus A, Chongqing University. The lecture was organized by the Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, "111 Program" Innovation and Intelligence Introduction Base, and the National Local Laboratory of Vascular Implantation. Nearly 100 teachers and students in the field of biomedicine, including Professor Cai kaiyong, dean of the School of Bioengineering, Professor Zhang Jixi, Professor Wu Shourong, and young teacher Xia Zengzilu, Professor Luo Zhong from the School of Life Sciences, Associate Professor Wang Chenhui from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Professor Li Yi from the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University; and Zhou Yong, chairman of Western Technology Inc., attended the lecture.

Cai Kaiyong delivered a welcome speech on behalf of the School of Bioengineering and extended warm welcome and thanks to Professor Kataoka for his visit. Kataoka made an academic lecture entitled "self assembled supramolecular systems for targeted therapy of cancer and brain disorders". Prof. Kataoka mainly introduced the application basis and clinical transformation research achievements of biodegradable polymer materials developed by the research team in gene delivery, drug targeted delivery and molecular imaging in recent years; meanwhile, he also made analyzed and summarized the second and third phase clinical trials jointly developed by the research group and the enterprise, with a focus on the application and design ideas of biomaterials in major diseases such as malignant tumors and Alzheimer’s disease, bringing a wonderful academic feast for the teachers, students and relevant biomedical researchers present. At the lecture, Prof. Kataoka emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary research such as biomaterials, molecular biology and clinical medicine for basic research to clinical transformation research, with reference made to his research results and decades of research experience. After the lecture, the teachers and students present asked questions about the function and application prospect of biomaterials. Prof. Kataoka answered the questions one by one, and had a heated discussion and exchange with the teachers and students present. Prof. Kataoka expressed positive appreciation to the teachers and students of Chongqing University for their questions and in-depth discussion on scientific issues at the lecture, and expressed his desire for scientific research cooperation in nucleic acid drug treatment in the future.

Kazunori Kataoka, a professor of Tokyo University, Japan; a foreign academician of National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a fellow of National Academy of Inventors (NAI fellow); director of Nanomedicine Innovation Center of Kawasaki Industrial Revitalization Institute, a Japanese Consortium; former chairman of Controlled Release Society (CRS), former chairman of Japan Polymer Society; deputy editor in chief of ACS Nano, Biomaterials, Biomacrolecules and other magazines. Professor Kataoka’s research areas include the application basis and clinical transformation of poly amino acid biodegradable polymer materials in gene delivery, drug targeted delivery, and molecular imaging. Professor Kataoka is a well-known international pioneer scholar in the field of nano biomedicine. He has published more than 600 SCI-indexed papers in Science, Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnol, Science Translational Medicine, Science Advanced, Nature Communications, PNAA, JACS and other high-level magazines. He has won the founding award of Controlled Release Society, Humboldt Research Award in Germany, Leo Esaki Prize in Japan and other international research awards. At present, five nanodrugs developed by Professor Kataoka have been brought into clinical trials in the United States, Japan and other countries, two of which have entered the phase III clinical trials.