The opening ceremony of 12th China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) Annual Meeting took place in Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian Province, on November 1st, 2010. Prof. Mu-Ming Poo, together with two other scientists, received the 2010 Qiushi Excellent Scientist Award.  

Prof. Mu-ming Poo was awarded the Qiushi Excellent Scientist Award for his many contributions to cell biology and neurobiology. In the early 1970s, he invented the photobleaching method, and was the first to measure the rate of protein diffusion in cell membrane, a finding that provided the quantitative basis for the fluid model of cell membrane. The photobleaching method has also become the standard biophysical method in measuring diffusion of macromolecules in cells. In neurobiology, he developed novel sensitive methods for measuring transmitter secretion from growing neurons, and for nerve growth cone responses to diffusible guidance molecules, and elucidated cytoplasmic signal transduction mechanism in the decision making process of the nerve growth cone during their turning responses. In the past two decades, he has also made important contributions to our understanding on how neurotrophic factors modulate signal transmission between nerve cells and how the timing information of neuronal (spiking) signals can be stored at the synapses. These findings contribute significantly to our understanding of how our brain stores long-term memories.   

The Qiu Shi Science and Technology Foundation was founded by Mr. Ji-Min Zha and his family in Hong Kong in 1994. The name “Qiu Shi” came from the “Qiu Shi Academy”, a prestigious site of advance learning in Zhejiang province, that later became Zhejiang University. The Foundation aims to promote scientific research in China through awards and scholarships.