03-Aug-2011
On Friday 15th July 2011 Oxford University (Beijing) Science & Technology Company Ltd. (OUBST) opened its new suite of offices in Beijing's Central Business District. The OUBST offices house the regional coordinating centre for the Acarbose Cardiovascular Evaluation (ACE) trial which is run by Oxford University's Diabetes Trials Unit. The offices are situated on the twentieth floor of the Kerry Centre North Tower, providing an excellent location and set of facilities for staff and University visitors alike, with extensive work and meeting space. The Kerry Centre is connected, via an underground shopping mall, to the Kerry Centre Shangri-La Hotel and to the China World Trade Centre compound.
Following their biannual face-to-face meeting in the new conference room, the ACE International Steering Committee were joined by members of the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM) Strategic Office - Darren Nash (Head of Administration and Finance) and Lizzy Deacon (China Projects Development Manager) - to celebrate the opening of the new OUBST offices. Also in attendance were employees of Bayer HealthCare (who fund the ACE study), Theorem Clinical Research (the ACE site management CRO), and Clearstone Laboratories (who manage ACE biomarker samples).
Professor Rury Holman gave a welcoming speech that thanked all those who had worked so hard to achieve the establishment of the offices. Darren Nash also gave a short presentation on how the Diabetes Trials Unit fits into the structure of the wider University, mentioning some of the other medical research projects that NDM is currently facilitating in China. OUBST staff members were then each presented with a small gift, and provided with the opportunity to enjoy a glass of champagne while admiring the spectacular views overlooking the new China Central Television tower.