Beijing, Dec. 11^th(Siyang Wang) The 2017 Australia China Alumni Awards Presentation Dinner was held in Shanghai on November 25^th. Professor Zhang Xiaofei, Director of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics of Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, was announced winner of the top Award -- 2017 Australia China Alumni of the Year.

Australia China Alumni of the Year Award recognizes all-round excellence in work, life and community service. It celebrates an alumna/alumnus who has consistently demonstrated excellence in their professional career and /or through charitable activities. The winner of this award has established themselves as a leader in their chosen professional and/or philanthropic field, and nominees have also made significant contributions to society in Australia and China. Past winners include CEO of Intime Retail (Group) Co., Ltd Chen Xiaodong, Former Vice Governor of Shandong Province Xia Geng, Chairman & CEO of Chinese Operations, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Shao Zili.

Prof. Zhang Xiaofei is the first to win this Award based upon his academic contributions. His work and contribution in Cardiovascular Epidemiology have been recognized at National and International levels. One of his research papers was awarded Best 100 Medical Scientific Articles in 2016 by the Chinese Medical Association. Another two papers on cardiovascular epidemiology and public health collaborated with the University of Newcastle, Australia and the US CDC were highly praised and recognized by Professor Nicholas S. Downing[1] at Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard University, and Professor Paul K. Whelton[2] at Tulane University. Prof. Whelton pointed out that their findings may be the first to provide detailed information on the role of body weight as an effect modifier for the relationships between dietary K and Na/K with blood pressure, and raises an important question about whether Na/K should be focused on more in clinical practice.

The Australia China Alumni Awards was established in 2009 by the Australia China Alumni Association (ACAA), and is a high-profile initiative recognizing the wide-ranging achievements of Australian university graduates that are currently based in China, both local and expatriate. The ACAA now has 16,000+ Australian universities alumni members across greater China and is supported by the Australian Government and the Australian Ambassador to China.

[1] Nicholas S. Downing, Jing Li, Ischaemic heart disease in China: the time to address rising mortality rates [J], European Heart Journal - Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes, 2017; 3: 4–5

[2] Paul K. Whelton, Body Weight, Sodium, Potassium, and Blood Pressure, The Journal of Clinical Hypertension [J], 2015; 17 (12) :926-928