Professor George Bou-Gharios and Dr Blandine Poulet attend a seminar at XJTU.

At the invitation of Professor Guo Xiong and Associate Professor Wen Yan from the School of Public Health at Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU)'s Health Science Center, Professor George Bou-Gharios and Dr Blandine Poulet from the University of Liverpool's Department of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science recently conducted an academic visit to XJTU in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

On Oct 14, a joint seminar titled "Musculoskeletal Disorders" was held at the School of Public Health. During the seminar, Professor Zhuang Guihua, dean of the School of Public Health, extended a warm welcome to guests and presented George Bou-Gharios with a guest professorship certificate from XJTU.

Guo awarded honorary academic advisor certificates of key laboratory to George and Blandine. They delivered reports, sharing research updates in areas including "transcriptional elements in MMP13", "LRP1 and osteoarthritis", "Alkaptonuria: a rare disease," and "ligaments and meniscal damage in osteoarthritis mouse models".

Additionally, associate professors Wen Yan and Jia Yumeng, Assistant Professor Cheng Bolun, and Dr Liu Li from the School of Public Health presented their latest advancements in musculoskeletal disease research.

Following the seminar, both parties reached preliminary consensus on future collaborative research, joint postgraduate training, and international project applications.

On Oct 15, two visiting experts delivered the second session of the "Silk Road Forum" to faculty and students at XJTU, focusing on "Mouse Models in the Study of Human Diseases".

The following day, the two experts conducted a field survey on Kashin-Beck disease in Linyou county, Baoji, Shaanxi province. The survey team first visited the memorial exhibition hall of Professor Yin Peipu – an expert on Kashin-Beck disease and an alumnus of XJTU – and watched a documentary on his life's work. They gained a deep understanding of Yin's efforts in the prevention and treatment of Kashin-Beck disease across Linyou and the county's current efforts to prevent and control the disease. The two experts expressed admiration for Yin's contributions and the progress made in local disease prevention and control.

The survey team learns about efforts to prevent and control Kashin-Beck disease in Linyou county.