Founding meeting of Molecular Imaging Branch of Chinese Society for Cognitive Science held at Zhejiang University

Recently, the founding meeting of the Molecular Imaging Branch of Chinese Society for Cognitive Science was held at Zhejiang University. Prof. TIAN Mei at Zhejiang University was elected as director of the Molecular Imaging Branch. Vice directors included Prof. SUN Yujie from Peking University, Prof. ZHANG Hong from Zhejiang University, Prof. TENG Gaojun from Southeast University and Prof. DAI Zhifei from Peking University.

The Chinese Society of Cognitive Science is committed to research into the nature and laws of human cognition and intelligence. Cognitive science is not only the “ultimate frontier” for the human understanding of nature and mankind per se but also the focus of national endeavor for brain science around the world. As the most cutting-edge part of brain science, it is a notably interdisciplinary research field marked by its extensive interaction with neuroscience, artificial intelligence, psychology, frontier supporting technologies and other emerging disciplines.

The Molecular Imaging Branch is a cross-disciplinary and cross-field academic body. Its board is comprised of 37 experts from a suite of affiliations, such as key universities, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, major hospitals and high-tech enterprises. They engage in varying fields, including molecular imaging, nuclear medicine, radiological imaging, ultrasound imaging, probe drugs, neuroscience, psychiatry and medical instruments. The Branch will promote the development of cognitive science in a whole-chain pattern. 

Academician CHEN Lin, chairman of the Chinese Society of Cognitive Science, said that the current scientific field is faced with the challenges from four fundamental problems, among which cognition is the most complicated, far-reaching and socially influential. As an emerging discipline intertwined with cognitive science, molecular imaging can not only provide a crucial basis for the discovery of the connection among the brain function, the brain mechanism and cognitive activity but also act as a bridge between molecular biology and clinical medicine. It is hoped that the establishment of the Molecular Imaging Branch will accelerate the translational application of molecular imaging in cognitive science and promote China’s molecular imaging to the world in a faster and more comprehensive way.

“We will make an endeavor to build a bridge in terms of research into human behavior and brain functions in more dimensions and at higher levels under the guidance of the Chinese Society for Cognitive Science, thus providing immense support for the development of cognitive science and offering innovative solutions to major scientific problems in cognitive science,” said TIAN Mei.