Q and A with Jing ZHANG - creativity is essential to research
Jing is a research fellow at The George institute for Global Health China. He joined this big family in April, 2011. What does he think about research work? Please check below the Q & A with him.
What is your job and what does it involve?
I am a research fellow and project manager at The George Institute for Global Health at Peking University Health Science Center and in charge of project implementation and management, and paper writing.
How long have you been working at The George Institute/George Clinical?
Nearly 4 years.
What is your professional background?
Epidemiology and health statistics
What attracted you to working at The George Institute/George Clinical?
It is the good atmosphere for doing research, friendly environment and the institute’s inspiring values that attract me most.
What inspires you in the work you do and why?
I am inspired by the unique innovation that is needed in research work which can truly benefit the whole population and improve their health.
What is your current research focus OR what are you currently working on?
My research focuses on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases such as stroke and hypertension using mHealth and other innovative approaches. Currently I’m in charge of the implementation and management of 2 projects: THAT Study which aims to compare the efficacy of two antihypertensive medicines among high sodium intake patients with hypertension, and RECOVER Study focuses on improving the rehabilitation for disabled stroke patients in rural China.
What are examples of other work/projects you been involved with at The George Institute OR recent highlights/successes?
There’s one example that I would like to mention the most-the School-based education programme to reduce salt intake in children and their families, also known as School EduSalt project. The main result of this study will be soon published in British Medical Journal. I was fully involved in the project from the very beginning to the end. Under the instruction of the two PIs from China and the UK, I took part in the design and implementation of the whole study, as well as quality control. It was very exciting that the study achieved great and impressive results, which to me was the biggest success and compliment.
What impact will your work have on health and how OR what difference will this make to healthcare and why?
I believe that our work can bring real impact to human beings. Through intervention related to salt reduction, it is possible to make people build a habit of having low salt diet to reduce the risk of having cerebrovascular diseases. Besides, the stroke rehabilitation approach we developed can be adapted to rural areas where medical resources are limited. This simplified stroke recovery treatment can be acquired by the patients themselves and therefore to improve their quality of life in the future.
Are you currently studying and if so what?
I am studying statistics and statistical software SAS. In addition, I’m also in the progress of applying doctorate in epidemiology at University of Sydney and the scholarship. Hopefully I can get some good news in this April.
What value/s of The George Institute/George Clinical do you appreciate the most and why?
I appreciate ‘creativity’ most. I think creativity is essential and crucial to China. As a developing country, it is of great importance to improve the health and support the rural population with innovative approaches. Though China has made relative regulations and laws, it is still far from enough. In my opinion, creativity should be the key of development. If you want to assess how well one country develops, the index should be what it has done to improve the lives of people living in resource-constrained areas. And what we are doing now is for the welfare of this population, in a creative way.
To unwind at the end of the day I….
Do sports to stay healthy.
A person I admire is….
Shouren WANG, one of the greatest philosophers in China
A saying I live by is…
God rewards those who work hard
One day I hope to…
Visit the polar regions and admire the view of aurora
