Although the huge and sudden joy of having a girlfriend almost made Sun Lien a little dizzy, the work that should be done still had to be done seriously. If something went wrong in the work of receiving Dr. Pascal, Sun Lien had no doubt that his future mentor Liu Tangchun would directly peel himself and hang it at the door of the hospital's emergency room, with a line of big letters, "Sun Thief Lien died with this." ”

Dr. Pascal is a well-known scholar in the international medical community. In particular, in clinical immunology, where he focuses his research, Dr. Pascal, who has published dozens of SCI papers, is a leader in this field. Unfortunately, due to his clinical orientation, Dr. Pascal did not receive much funding for scientific research. His lab was actually a spare room provided by the Massachusetts State Hospital where he worked. At the same time, relying on the more than one million US dollars allocated by the college every year, the scientific research work is barely maintained.

The contrast between this achievement and the working environment is mainly due to the direction of Dr. Pascal's research.

Dr. Pascal's research focuses on the regulation of innate immunity. Research in this area is actually very different from his usual clinical work. The study of innate immune regulation is mainly carried out by studying the mechanism of immune cell response, immune cell regulation, and immune cell production. Research in this area does not have much investment value for pharmaceutical companies. For pharmaceutical companies, investing in research is to invest in the hottest projects, which can make the company's stock price rise and make the company make a lot of money.

For the field of immunology, such projects are currently focused on the research and engineering of immune cells. Especially in the field of CAR-T cells and PD-L1 antibody inhibitor research, many pharmaceutical companies have participated in investment research with an almost carnival mentality. The PD-L1 antibody can bind to the PD-L1 antibody on the surface of the immune T cell in advance, preventing cancer cells from binding to the PD-L1 antibody outside the immune T cell, thereby preventing cancer cells from using the antibody to destroy the antibody T cells.

CAR-T cells, on the other hand, are more of a human modification program – more of a treatment than a drug. Doctors isolate T cells taken from the patient's body. Then, in vitro, a specially designed chimeric antibody is added to T cells through genetic engineering technology to make CAR-T stem cells. This specially designed chimeric antibody is able to recognize cancer cells while activating other T cells in large quantities. Over the next week to two, doctors will do everything they can to get the CAR-T stem cells to proliferate. Wait until they have multiplied to the order of billions, and then the cells are infused back into the patient. The patient's physical condition is then closely monitored to avoid a strong cytokine storm that kills the patient directly.

These two studies can be regarded as the main direction of modern medicine in solving the problem of cancer, and they are also the direction that seems to be the most promising for success at present.

These two popular projects have little to do with Dr. Pascal. He still spends ten years in his small laboratory, using his spare time outside the clinic to conduct research. Unfortunately, the $1 million research grant is a bit tight. Most of the research equipment in Dr. Pascal's department is "antique" goods that other labs have discarded. The salaries of the two graduate students sometimes had to be paid by Dr. Pascal with his own salary.

Although it is famous, such a gap does exist. In his spare time, Dr. Pascal travels frequently between Southeast Asia and Western China, actively participating in MSF activities. While he saved many helpless children suffering from autoimmune diseases during these activities, it did little to help him get funding from other foundations. Unable to boost her career despite her lack of time, Mrs. Pascal was supportive of her husband's efforts, but this behavior also stretched the Pascal family's financial situation. Although he travels back and forth to China a lot, he can't even bring his children to China to see pandas once.

Dr. Pascal met Xu Yourong, who had just entered the Hopkins internship, during a lecture organized by Médecins Sans Frontières. And soon became familiar with this usually serious-looking young doctor. As an expert in the field of immunology, Dr. Pascal was enthusiastic to share many of the cases he had seen with Xu Yourong. Although the two are more than a decade apart in age, it is as natural as two old friends who have known each other for many years - Xu Yourong spent every Christmas holiday with Rachel and the Pascal family during the last two years of his stay in the United States.

After learning that Xu Yourong was about to return to China, Dr. Pascal's two children were sad for a while. They all like Xu Yourong, a beautiful "Chinese sister".

Until three days ago, Xu Yourong mentioned her and Sun Lien's treatment team in an email to Dr. Pascal. She hadn't thought about hiring Dr. Pascal on the team at first. Xu Yourong's purpose was really just to get Dr. Pascal to recommend a few good candidates.

Dr. Pascal, who had been struggling to keep his lab running in Massachusetts for a long time, was immediately moved. The scene depicted by Xu Yourong is really good. A large, newly built emergency center hospital with a long-established research medical university behind it. And, more importantly, China's attitude towards "basic medical research with no promising prospects."

Unlike corporate and private sponsorship models in U.S. universities, research funding in China is largely provided by the government. In the field of scientific research, it is probably only the government that is interested in technologies that have little prospect of commercialization. Dr. Pascal is convinced that his research direction may not lead to the creation of epoch-making new drugs. However, the development of new drugs that act on the immune system must be paved with sufficient basic research to make significant progress.

Dr. Pascal was impulsive for the first time. He announced to his two children, "I'm going to take you to China to see pandas." But he never said anything about his intention to work in China. And it wasn't until the night when the two children had slept that he told his wife what had happened.

"Go ahead, dear. "Mrs. Pascal, though she had never known much about China, always felt that this mysterious Oriental country might be a bit of a foreigner. But she gave her full support to her husband's adventure. "We've been married for sixteen years, and this is the first time you've decided to take the plunge. It would be a shame if I objected to that. ”

That's how Dr. Pascal's family stepped on the plane to the capital.

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"I drive. Rachel pulled out a black seven-seater MPV from the parking lot. She sat in the driver's seat without hesitation, and waved to Sun Lien and Hu Jia on the side, "Get in the car!"

"Do you have a Chinese driver's license?" Sun Lien was a little flustered, he had only seen Americans drive in movies. And generally speaking, Americans who drive will basically not end up well. Either the vehicle exploded, or the chassis turned into the sky. There are very few times that you can reach your destination without any problems.

Rachel took out a Chinese driver's license and shook it in front of Sun Lien's eyes, "I changed it when I came to China last year. She slapped the steering wheel and ordered imposingly, "There's no time to explain, get in the car!" After saying that, she laughed out loud, lying on the steering wheel and laughing while explaining, "I'm sorry, I've wanted to say this for a long time." ”

Sun Lien and Hu Jia got into the car with a smile, and the black MPV quietly walked through the streets of the capital. It didn't take long for the car to hit the highway to the airport.

Rachel was handsome with one hand on the steering wheel and the other leaning against the window next to her. And Sun Lien has no time to worry about what the consequences of Americans driving will be. Hu Jia was tugging at his arm, asking her all the questions she could think of about Sun Lien.

"I know your age, name and gender. Hu Jia smiled as if he was playing a prank, "I basically don't know anything else." Can you introduce yourself to me?"

Sun Lien asked with a bitter face, "Now?" He raised his eyebrows and signaled that Hu Jia was still sitting on a large light bulb in the driver's seat. "It's not appropriate to say it here, right?"

"Nothing out of place. I'm not going to ask you any strange questions. Hu Jia rubbed her hands, her right hand had been held by Sun Lien, but her left hand was a little neglected. So much so that my hands were a little uncomfortable from the cold. "That's it, I ask questions, you answer. ”

Sun Lien nodded. Although he doesn't have any experience in dating, he also knows that he must not sweep the nature of his girlfriend at this time.

"So the first question. Hu Jia looked at his face and asked seriously, "Do you like me?"

"Hey!" Sun Lien didn't answer, and Rachel, who was driving, blew up first. "Look, there's another guy here who hasn't seen my girlfriend for more than half a year! Don't irritate me! I'm going to step on the gas!"

Sun Lien nodded vigorously at Hu Jia. Then he whispered, "For the sake of safety, let's change the question." ”

"Well, the second question. Hu Jia covered her mouth and laughed for a while, and continued to ask, "Are you an only child?"

"Yes. That's not a bad question. Sun Lien nodded and said, "My parents are just one child. ”

This kind of question and answer was carried out under Rachel's constant protests, and it was not until the MPV arrived at the airport that it was temporarily over.

Rachel deliberately put her face in front of Hu Jia and rolled her eyes vigorously. Then he asked, "When you meet Mrs. Pascal, you may ask her about her previous romantic experiences with Dr. Pascal." ”

"Isn't it interesting?" Hu Jia was obviously chatting with a high level of nature today. She asked curiously, "Madame Pascal doesn't understand, does she?"

"I'll translate for you. Rachel gritted her teeth and forced a "gentle" smile out of her face. "The whole process of translation, no matter how big or small. ”8)