Saxony Partners with University of Alberta

The Honorable Stanislaw Tillich and Arya M. Sharma

Last November, I blogged about my visit to the University of Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, where I visited my good friend Matthias Blüher, who made a name for himself with his prolific research on adipose tissue biology.

The university of Leipzig is the likely recipient of a major multi-million Euro grant for an obesity research and treatment centre and has kindly invited me to sit on their International Scientific Advisory Committee.

So imagine my delight when yesterday, the University of Alberta signed a partnership agreement with Saxony on scientific collaboration and exchange. At the reception for this event, I personally conveyed my appreciation to the Honorable Stanislaw Tillich, Minister President of the Free State of Saxony, regarding the fact that the University of Leipzig was going to take such a major place in obesity research and management in Germany.

Indeed, given the tremendous expertise here at the University of Alberta in obesity and related disorders, I very much hope that the new agreement will provide a solid framework for faculty and student exchanges as well as extensive collaborative research initiatives with the University of Leipzig.

I very much look forward to the future interactions with my German colleagues on this important area of research and patient care.

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta

Hat Tip to Arnim Joop for the photograph