From October 12 to 15, the National Finals of the China International College Students Innovation Competition 2024 were held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter to the student representatives participating in the competition, offering them warm encouragement and expressing earnest hopes.

WMU secured two gold medals and five silver medals in this competition. Professor Zhu Xuebo, a member of the university’s Party committee and vice president, motivated and encouraged the candidates before the finals, speaking highly of their projects.

The event received nearly 500 submissions. After a fierce competition, seven of them advanced to the national finals. The projects "Myelin Restoration: Pioneer in Precision Neural Repair for Paralysis Treatment" and "Divine Ladder: Gradient Repair of Peripheral Nerve Injuries with 'Pioneer Fiber' Precision" won gold medals. Additionally, five other projects received silver medals, including "Lumbar Disc Decompression: Empowering Health in the New Era," "Building Dreams for Kids: Pioneer of the 'Sichuan-Xizang-Xinjiang' Congenital Heart Disease Rescue System for Children," "Research on New Drug Development for Treatment of Chronic Wounds Based on Fibroblast Growth Factors," "Bone Sculpt Assist: 3D Intelligent Printing Leads The New Area of The Entire Process Repair of Complex Fractures," and "Dynamic Eye: Accurate Early Detection Platform for Keratoconus." Notably, the project "Research on New Drug Development for Treatment of Chronic Wounds Based on Fibroblast Growth Factors" marked our university’s first entry into the final of the industry-oriented track and won a silver medal.

This year's competition was themed “Brave and Creative as I Can Be”. The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Education, relevant ministries, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, and co-hosted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Minhang District People's Government. The competition attracted a total of 5.14 million project entries from 153 countries and regions, with 1,410 projects reaching the finals. The competition emphasized innovation-driven efforts and focused on the commercialization of results, with outstanding projects attracting potential investments exceeding 6.8 billion yuan.

Gold Awards

Myelin Restoration: Pioneer in Precision Neural Repair for Paralysis Treatment

Track: Higher Education Main Track

School: The Second School of Medicine, School of Laboratory Science and Life Science

Project Description: Spinal cord injury has been proven to be extremely difficult to repair. Scientists hope that research on stem cells may eventually facilitate the restoration of nerve conductivity in people with spinal cord injuries. Utilizing dental pulp stem cell transplantation to rebuild the structure and function of neural tissue is currently a hot topic in research on nerve injury repair. However, the survival rate and differentiation efficiency of stem cell transplantation often fall short of expectations. In addition, the use of growth factors for the induction of differentiation poses significant uncontrollable risks. The basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is one of the essential neurotrophic factors for stem cell differentiation with potent effects on differentiation and proliferation. This project found that bFGF could promote recovery from spinal cord injuries; meanwhile, the team successfully constructed a hypoxia-regulated bFGF gene-modified stem cell system through gene recombination, providing new therapeutic strategies and an in-depth theoretical foundation for spinal cord injury research.

Divine Ladder: Gradient Repair of Peripheral Nerve Injuries with 'Pioneer Fiber' Precision

Track: International Track, International Undergraduate Creative Group

School: Graduate School, Alberta Institute

Project Description: Peripheral nerve injury is associated with a significantly high rate of disability, resulting in heavy economic burdens for both society and families. As a result, the repair of such injuries has remained a central focus in trauma medicine research. Over 80% of patients in traditional surgical treatments undergo autologous transplantation, leading to long rehabilitation periods and a lack of stable microenvironments for nerve repair. Nerve conduit therapy is a novel therapeutic approach that encapsulates the damaged nerve ends and guides nerve cell regeneration, providing an alternative to autologous transplantation. This project innovatively utilizes bFGF and ECM conduits to create a stable microenvironment for nerve repair, facilitating precise and rapid peripheral nerve regeneration. The high biocompatibility of the conduit minimizes problems such as chronic pain and immune rejection in traditional surgeries. This project aims to provide better recovery outcomes for patients at a lower economic burden.

Silver Awards