Constantin Polychronakos (right, third from back), a Canadian diabetes expert, receives the Zhejiang Government West Lake Friendship Award in Hangzhou on March 28. [Photo/zhoushan.gov.cn]

Constantin Polychronakos, a Canadian scientist working in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, was granted the Zhejiang Government West Lake Friendship Award for his contributions over the past year to the diagnosis and prevention of diabetes in Zhejiang and all of China. 

Polychronakos accepted the medal and certificate in Hangzhou on March 28 and met a delegation led by Li Yong, director of the Zhejiang Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

According to Li, the Zhejiang Government West Lake Friendship Award is the only award established by the provincial government for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to Zhejiang’s modernization. It was adopted by Zhejiang as a means of attracting more foreign talents to aid in China’s reform and opening up. 

Polychronakos thanked the Zhejiang government for the honor and expressed his willingness to keep doing what he can to help the province develop further. 

Polychronakos is an academician of both the Academy of Science of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He is also a lifetime professor for the Departments of Paediatrics and Human Genetics at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and the leader of the school's Child Health and Human Development Program.

As the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Genetics, he has published many high-level papers in top international medical journals such as Nature, and holds many international medical patents.

Guo Liquan, director of the Bureau of Science and Technology of Zhoushan, met with Polychronakos after he returned and congratulated him. 

Guo expressed hopes that Polychronakos will continue making contributions to China's diabetes treatment and prevention with Maida Gene, a genetic diagnostic technology R&D company Polychronakos and his team established in Putuo district, Zhoushan two years ago. 

The Bureau of Science and Technology of Zhoushan will continue to provide high-quality services for foreign experts working or living in Zhoushan, said Guo.

Constantin Polychronakos (left) meets with Guo Liquan, director of the Bureau of Science and Technology of Zhoushan, upon his return. [Photo/zhoushan.gov.cn]