The University of Adelaide has entered a partnership with the Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Zhendong Pharmaceutical Company to form Zhendong Australia China Centre for Molecular Traditional Chinese Medicine.

 

At the University of Adelaide, the Zhendong Centre will be based within the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science. The Centre will investigate the mode of action of Traditional Chinese Medicine using the rapidly growing field of Systems or Network Biology which looks at the regulation of complex biological systems in the body.

 

"The application of systems biology to Traditional Chinese Medicine is particularly exciting because it explores what effects there may be on the molecular/genetic networks that are altered in sickness," said Director of the Zhendong Centre, Professor David Adelson.

 

"This not only will provide us with an understanding of how Traditional Chinese Medicine acts - supporting its evidence-based integration into Western medicine - but will also increase our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease."

 

Professor Adelson has also been appointed Chair for the Molecular Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a new Chair endowed by Zhendong Pharmaceutical Company as part of its investment in this research.