Drexel launches research center with Shanghai-based institute

Drexel University in Philadelphia has signed an agreement with Shanghai Advanced Research Institute in a move to produce more collaboration between faculty and researchers at the institutions.

John A. Fry, Drexel’s president, announced the launch of the Drexel-SARI center in Shanghai with the president of the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Dr. Feng Songlin.

One of the first projects at the center is a joint research initiative led by Dr. Wei Sun, Albert Soffa Chair Professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, and scientists from SARI’s life science department to apply 3D cell assembly technology to generate in vitro cellular cancer models used for drug screening testing.

The move comes five months after the university launched a dual PhD program between its biomedical engineering program and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Dr. Jiang Mianheng, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Drexel graduate, helped facilitate the launch of the Drexel-SARI Center.

Drexel and SARI will fund the center’s operations and research projects. It will be managed by an advisory board, a steering committee and lead scientist.