On April 3rd, 2018, Ronald Gary Tompkins, the Sumner M. Redstone Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School, the Division ex-Chief of Burn Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the ex-Chief of Staff at the Shriners Hospitals for Children – Boston, joined the Department of Burns of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University as Distinguished Professor. Prof. Tompkins is the first internationally recognized expert that the Department of Burns has introduced ever.

The appointment ceremony was hosted by Prof. Kuang Ming, the Executive Vice President of Zhongshan School of Medicine and the Vice President of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. Prof. Xiao Haipeng, the Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University and the President of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, gave a speech. Prof. Xiao spoke highly of the Talent Introduction Strategy as well as the efforts and contribution that the Department of Burns had made for the development of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University and expressed his confidence in the future development of the Department of Burns. He hoped that the Department of Burns could grasp this precious opportunity, make use of the clinical, academic and teaching influence of Prof. Tompkins, introduce the burn and wound management standard of MGH, develop into a global burn surgery center, build an influential team both in China and internationally and thus begin a new chapter in history.

After the appointment ceremony, Prof. Xiao hosted the awarding ceremony for the Guangdong Burn and Wound Precise Care Key Technology and Series Products Engineering Technology Research and Development Center for the Division of Burn Surgery. After that, Prof. Tompkins and Prof. Cecilia W.P. Li-Tsang from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University gave speeches about their research on burn immunologic response and hyperplastic scar management respectively. Zeng Jinsheng, Wen Weiping, Qi Shaohai the Vice Presidents of the First Affiliated Hospital, Ding Shuqin the Standing Vice-Director of President’s Office, members of the Division of Burn Surgery and other experts from the Burn Surgery Branch of Guangdong Medical Association attended the meeting.