On December 9, Professor Andreas Maier—director of the Pattern Recognition Lab at Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)—led a delegation to our hospital. Vice President Hu Jiankun and representatives of relevant departments attended the exchange.

Vice President Hu extended a warm welcome to Professor Maier’s team on their return visit. He noted that since the professor’s first visit in June, the two sides have engaged in deep discussions on orthopedics, radiology, radiation oncology, biomedical big data and other disciplines. In September, a West China Hospital delegation traveled to Germany to sign a strategic cooperation memorandum with FAU, marking the entry of the partnership into a substantive phase.

In his remarks, Professor Maier reviewed the multiple exchanges with West China Hospital departments and praised the institution’s strong capacity for clinical research and data integration. He stated that FAU’s Pattern Recognition Lab has extensive experience in artificial intelligence and medical-image processing, and that the current visit will focus on establishing a joint AI laboratory with West China Hospital to advance higher-level, broader win–win cooperation in research and talent development.

The two sides then held in-depth discussions on the progress of disciplinary collaborations, implementation of the strategic MoU, and—centered on the proposed joint laboratory—its objectives, operating mechanisms, research directions and talent-training models, reaching broad consensus on multiple areas.