From June 7 to 8, the 2025 Annual Meeting of Overseas Chinese Society of Microbiology was held in Nanjing. The theme of this conference was "The Impact of Microorganisms on Health and Environment," focusing on international scientific frontiers, building a platform for academic exchange and cooperation between China and foreign countries, and promoting the integration and development of global microbiology and related disciplines. Tan Zhemin, President of Nanjing University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), attended and addressed at the opening ceremony.
Tan Zhemin welcomed the participating experts and scholars on behalf of NJU. He pointed out that scientific progress is a global and contemporary issue, and open cooperation is an important way to promote scientific progress. It is our shared responsibility to adhere to open scientific cooperation to benefit humanity and contribute wisdom and strength to address global challenges and promote human development. Overseas Chinese Society of Microbiology connects domestic and overseas resources, gathering industry, academia, and research to make important contributions to strengthening international scientific cooperation. As the first biology department of Chinese universities, NJU School of Life Sciences has always upheld the scientific spirit of seeking truth from facts, insisting on interdisciplinary integration, and merging research fields from microscopic molecules to macroscopic ecology, from life health to environmental resources, striving to build a high-level bio-pharmaceutical innovation system oriented towards life health, making significant contributions to the development of life sciences. Currently, all disciplines of the School of Life Sciences are ranked in the top 1% globally in ESI. Tan Zhemin expected participating experts and scholars to gather wisdom and collaborate, letting the starlight of microbiological science illuminate the future of human health, and the light of technology illuminate the path of sustainable development.
Luo Zhaoqing, Chair of the Meeting, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), and President of the Chinese Society of Microbiology, pointed out that this gathering is a celebration of the discoveries we have made in the complex and often awe-inspiring world of microorganisms—from deep-sea ecosystems to those within our bodies, from breakthrough therapies to environmental solutions. The microbial world encompasses everything. He stated that the Chinese Society of Microbiology will continue to build various platforms to promote close exchanges and strengthen cooperation, enhancing the international influence of Chinese microbiology and promoting the sustainable high-quality development of the discipline.
Xu Jianguo, President of the Chinese Society for Microbiology (CSM) and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), expressed the hope that participants could deepen cooperation in fields such as antibiotic resistance mitigation, cancer-related research, and environmental ecology protection, promoting microbial technology to benefit human health and Earth’s ecology. He emphasized the CSM will continue to support the growth of young scholars by hosting youth forums and promoting international exchanges, providing a stage for young scholars to showcase their talents, hoping the younger generation will strive to reach scientific peaks, uphold research ethics, and ensure microbiology research is vibrant and committed to benefiting humanity.
Xia Haiming, Party Secretary of Gulou Hospital, stated in his speech that this annual meeting is an important platform for global wisdom collision and cooperation for mutual benefit. He hopes that participants will explore frontiers and build ecosystems, share results and drive application implementation around the interaction between microorganisms and health and environment, thus deepening global cooperation.
Wang Chengjiang, Head of Qixia District and Director of Xianlin University Town Management Committee, introduced experiences of Qixia District as a leading area for Nanjing’s biomedical industry in building a "Medical-Education-Research-Care" integrated large health characteristic industrial belt, and stated that Qixia will provide strong support and significant opportunities for the transformation of scientific achievements in the field of microbiology.
The opening ceremony was hosted by NJU Professor Tan Renxiang
Following the opening ceremony, participating scholars shared and exchanged their latest research results and experiences on topics such as antibiotic resistance, bacterial pathogenesis, environmental microbiology, translational medicine for infectious diseases, microorganisms and cancer and chronic diseases, parasitology, bacteriophage applications, synthetic biology and drug discovery, viral diseases, and more, jointly exploring the development trends and application prospects of microbiology in different fields. The meeting also hosted cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and a poster competition for young scholars.
The future development of science and technology is increasingly tending towards interdisciplinary integration, with more frequent and deeper exchanges and interactions between disciplines. This meeting builds a bridge for efficient communication among global microbiologists, jointly discussing the future development direction of microbiological science, promoting breakthroughs in frontier theories and technologies, facilitating deep cooperation across regions and disciplines, and providing a platform for young researchers to showcase their talents and dialogue with top experts. It has gathered the Chinese research strength of the global microbiology community, enhancing the international influence of the Chinese scientific community, and will certainly inject "Chinese wisdom" into the development of world microbiological science.
