A joint team of Chinese and international students from Shandong University (SDU) won a gold award and the best teamwork award at the finals of the 12th China Undergraduate Medical Innovation Tournament & The Belt and Road International Competition, held at Fudan University from Aug 14 to 18.

The four-member team consists of three Chinese undergraduates and one international student. Liu Yan and Ma Chang from Qilu Hospital of Shandong University supervised the team.

Their project focused on atherosclerosis and explored a targeted approach to diagnosis and treatment. The team developed a multimodal theranostic nanosystem that integrates lesion targeting, drug delivery and medical imaging, and evaluated the approach through cell and animal experiments.

The project builds on earlier research led by Ma, first author of a study published in Circulation Research. The earlier study identified macrophage Gsα as an important factor in the progression of atherosclerosis, providing a scientific basis for the competition project.

The team spent more than four months refining its research design, English presentation and responses to potential questions during the finals.

Their achievement marks the first gold award won by an SDU Chinese-international student team in the competition, as well as the first for Qilu Hospital in this international category.

The finals attracted nearly 4,500 teachers and students from almost 200 universities in China and overseas. The competition featured six disciplinary tracks, including basic and clinical medicine, forensic medicine, stomatology, preventive medicine, pharmacy and traditional Chinese medicine, and interdisciplinary studies.