Professor Adrian Harris currently serves as Chairman of the British Cancer Research Fund Cancer Center of the University of Oxford, and he is in charge of translational research projects in medical oncology. He is also the Editor-in- Chief of the British Journal of Cancer, as well as a member of the editorial board of Cancer Cell. He published numerous papers with high impact in the field of oncology in the past decade, naming him as one of the world's top researchers with the highest impact.

In the morning of August 10, 2015, Prof. Harris and Dr. Cai were received by the Vice-President of SYSUCC Prof. Chao-Nan Qian, the Deputy Director of Experimental Research Prof. Zhu Xiaofeng, Prof. Tang Jun and Prof. Wei Weidong from the Breast Cancer Department and the International Office composed of the Deputy Director Ms. Liao Shuang, Ms. Florence Sand and Ms. Zhai Huiwen. Both parties introduced their cancer center, inducing remarkable exchanges and questions on both sides. Prof. Adrian Harris kept showing interest and saying how impressed he was by the amount of work achieved at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, comparing with the small numbers encountered in the UK. He also highly praised the organization of such an enormous institution, especially concerning the staff and patients management. For his presentation, Prof. Harris introduced the work achieved in the University of Oxford in the recent years in terms of breast cancer treatments, explaining how the whole genome sequencing could bring in-depth perspective and benefit the targeted therapy of breast cancer patients.

After fruitful exchanges between the University of Oxford and the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Prof. Chao-Nan Qian and Prof. Adrian Harris discussed eventual collaboration opportunities, including one nurse program offered in the UK focused on management and psychology towards severe diseased patients. The parties showed great interest in this first possible stone to the edifice.

Following a cheerful lunch with the leaders of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Prof. Adrian Harris gave his lecture on “Hypoxic metabolism in cancer”. The room was packed with interested students, doctors and researchers, while the professor explained how his team found that the transcription level of 133 metabolism related genes were elevated in breast cancer, in correlation with different cancer types, understanding that the changes of these tumors in transcription level will contribute to the molecular classification and targeted intervention of breast cancer.

Then, the whole attendance and the professors surprised and moved Prof. Harris by cheering him and wishing him a happy birthday.

On the following day, Prof. Adrian Harris and Dr Cai Shijie visited the Animal Laboratory situated on the North Campus of the Sun Yat-sen University. Once again, they were surprised with the numbers dedicated to research and especially the equipments available for doctors, researchers and students in the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center for animal experiments. He joked with his guide, Dr. Peng Yongjian, on the prices of mouses in China compared to the UK, where it costs a fortune to do experiments on them. He was cheerfully invited to come to China to work with the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center’s researchers.

For the final step of his visit, Prof. Adrian Harris was invited to take part in the consultation meeting of the Breast Cancer Department by his director, Prof. Xie Xiaoming. Having numerous subjects to discuss, Prof. Xie Xiaoming and Prof. Harris evoked a great amount of eventual and fruitful collaborations that should see the light in the months to come.