Barry Marshall and representatives of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University sign an agreement to build a joint lab for the study of Helicobacter pylori. [Photo/todayguizhou.com]

A team from University of Western Australia led by Barry Marshall, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine, signed an agreement with the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University to co-build a joint lab recently.

As an expert in the study of Helicobacter pylori, Marshall and Robin Warren discovered the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in causing peptic ulcers, which made both of them win the 2005 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Marshall has been hired as a visiting professor by Guizhou Medical University since 2015 and conducted researches in Helicobacter pylori with Guizhou's medical experts.

The joint lab will allow both sides to further the study in Helicobacter pylori and gut microbiota, bring the research results from lab to practice, as well as build talent teams, technology platforms, specimen collections, and bioinformatics platforms.

Relying on the joint lab, the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University will establish the nation's first specialized outpatient service for Helicobacter pylori to enhance the screening of Helicobacter pylori infection and stomach precancerous lesions. Marshall will also spend one day per year to see patients.

According to Li Haiyang, director of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, the cooperation will improve the hospital's ability in diagnosis and research of Helicobacter pylori, as well as contribute to solving Guizhou's high incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection and stomach cancer.