Asia’s Rising Scientists: Song Wu

Song’s research into urinary tract cancer and cancer genomics has earned him numerous awards, both national and international—and he is just getting started.

Song Wu
Dean
Zhongxun Precision Medical Research Center

AsianScientist (May 18, 2016) – In his relatively short career, Song Wu has already amassed an impressive list of achievements and accolades. Last year, Song became the deputy head of Shenzhen Luohu People’s Hospital—the youngest so far in the Chinese city’s history. Specializing in urinary tract cancer, Song is also the head of the Zhongxun Precision Medical Research Center, also in Shenzhen.

His unwavering dedication to his research has resulted in more than 30 published papers in international journals such as Nature Genetics, and three patents, with 20 more patent applications in the pipeline. His efforts haven’t gone unnoticed: he recently received the National Outstanding Young Scientist Award and Chinese Medical Science Prize in his homeland, China.

Now, Song has well and truly arrived, this time on the international stage—the 29-year-old was selected to be on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 2016 Asia list in the healthcare and science category.

Here, Song tells Asian Scientist Magazine about his ambitions for the future of his research, the trials and tribulations of collecting tissue samples—and how there is always time for ping pong!

  1. How would you summarize your research in a tweet (140 characters)?

    I am mainly engaged in using precision medicine models in bladder cancer treatment, and I discovered telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) genes to be the markers of non-invasive diagnosis for bladder cancer. This finding is now being transformed into clinical diagnostic products.


  2. Describe a completed research project that you are proudest of.

    The completed research project that I’m proudest of is the Chinese bladder cancer genome project. I collected over 2,000 samples of bladder cancer from more than a dozen general hospitals in China within seven years. I then established the biggest database and sample library of bladder cancer genomes based on the samples I’ve collected before; and found a series of bladder cancer markers for early diagnosis of bladder cancer.


  3. What do you hope to accomplish with your research in the next decade?

    Compared with the traditional way of building sample libraries, we put forward the concept of three bases in building a sample library: ‘wet’ library, ‘dry’ library and ‘living’ library.

    ‘Wet’ library refers to the library of physical samples, such as cancer patients’ carcinoma tissue, para-carcinoma tissue, blood, urine, stool samples and its derivatives; and extraction of pathological section, primary cell, DNA, RNA and protein. Samples in the ‘wet’ library will be analyzed, and then processed data will be collected in the ‘dry’ library.

    ‘Living’ library refers to patient resources, including operable and inoperable patients with kidney cancer, bladder cancer, etc.

    Furthermore, I want to establish a home for people who have ‘sewer’ problems in Shenzhen. Sewer is a metaphor: if we compared the human body to a building, the body’s urinary system would be a building’s sewer system.


  4. Who (or what) motivated you to go into your field of study?

    I’m very lucky to have so many excellent advisors in my life. My undergraduate clinical instructor Professor Cai Zhiming from Shenzhen University; graduate instructor Professor Zhou Fangjian from Sun Yat-sen University; doctoral advisor Professor Wang Rongfu from Cornell University; postdoctoral advisor Professor Sun Yinghao from the Second Military Medical University; and last but not least, my hospital management advisor Professor Sun Xizhuo from Shenzhen Luohu People’s Hospital.

    They guided me in my research and clinical work in the field; they are like father figures to me.


  5. What is the biggest adversity that you experienced in your research?

    The biggest difficulty was the lack of quality tissue samples for basic medical research. I started to collect clinical samples from large general hospitals when I was a graduate student, and it was very common for me to wait six to seven hours outside the operating room, not to mention the fact that I had to seek the permission from patients and their families, which was very difficult.

  6. Song (fourth from right) and colleagues. Credit: Song Wu
    Song (fourth from right) and colleagues. Credit: Song Wu
  7. What are the biggest challenges facing the academic research community today, and how can we fix them?

    I think an open, high-level academic exchange platform would be needed for our scientific researchers. We should have an open mind—towards sharing research findings with peers and participating in academic organizations and conferences. These kinds of activities cannot be separate from scientific research.

  8. If you had not become a scientist, what would you have become instead?

    Since it is very difficult to be the top-notch scholar in an academic field, I would want to be a pilot or an astronaut, so that I can embrace the universe and reach the highest levels of the sky.


  9. Outside of work, what do you do to relax?

    Playing table tennis. I usually spend one hour per day playing table tennis. I’ve always believed that with a stronger body, people can do a better job. Our team’s slogan is to work healthily for 60 years for our motherland.


  10. If you had the power and resources to eradicate any world problem using your research, which one would you solve?

    If I were given the power to solve a world problem, I would use my scientific research knowledge to diagnose bladder cancer non-invasively using a single drop of urine, and lower the morbidity of the most advanced tumors in the world.


  11. What advice would you give to aspiring researchers in Asia?

    Do research with sureness, honesty and innovation, always remember your original dream, and always remember to apply your research to solve real problems.



This article is from a monthly series called Asia’s Rising Scientists. Click here to read other articles in the series.

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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photos: Song Wu.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Coming from a design background, Filzah brings a fresh perspective to science communications. She is particularly interested in healthcare and technology.

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