A seminar on research and monographs on COVID-19 was held in the conference room on the fourth floor of the Basic Building in the College of Basic Medical Sciences (CBMS) on June 29, 2020. The meeting was chaired by Professor Xin Ying, Deputy Dean of Scientific Research, and was attended by Sun Liankun, Dean of the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Associate Dean Professor Liu Haiyan, and Professor Sun Wei. A total of 26 scientific researchers from various departments also attended the meeting.

Firstly, Deputy Dean Xin Yingintroduced the purpose of this meeting. In the global fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, the young and middle-aged faculty should give full play to their expertise to tackle the challenges brought by the epidemic, and undertake corresponding responsibilities by actively carrying out scientific research related to COVID-19 pandemic and compiling monographs on viral diseases. Theyshould actively combine their interests and expertise to enhance their teaching by conducting basic research, give play to the leading role of basic medicine, and continuously improve their sense of pride, responsibility, accomplishment and happiness in their work.

Secondly, the faculty in the Department of Immunology, Department of Pathology, Department of Pathophysiology, Department of Molecular Biology, Department of Pathogenology, etc., exchanged ideas on topics from the generation of cytokine storms and their impact on the occurrence and development of viral diseases; the process by which a virus enters the body to attack the immune system; the ultrastructure and electrical environment diagnosis of viruses; the potential of stem cell therapy for the treatment of viral diseases and bioinformatics.

In the end, Dean Sun Liankun concluded the meeting with three takeaways. First, In the advocacy of“One Earth, One Health”, we should fight the epidemic rationally and reflect on how we can contribute to the country andsociety as basic medical researches. Second, college teachers, especially young teachers, should learn from each other’s strengths,focus on their main research directions, and innovate their research methods by deepening interdisciplinary studies and strengthening cooperation and exchanges at home and abroad. Third, we should build on our current achievements and look to the future. For this reason, we should give full play to the advantages of basic medicine in pursuit of the concept that“first-class universities should provide first-class social services”, and make full use of the advantages of comprehensive universities to provide basic support for epidemic prevention and control.

By organizing and encouraging the compilation of monographs on viral diseases, this conference aims to motivate young and middle-aged facultyin basic medicine to further improve their research and teaching, so as to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19.