Over 130 doctors, pharmacists and nurses attended the 2013 Joint Conference of Drug Safety Research Centres on 16 October 2013 at the Postgraduate Education Centre of the Prince of Wales Hospital. The conference was jointly organized by the Drug Safety Research Centres of the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK, Central South University, China; the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority. At the opening ceremony, Prof. Thomas Y.K. Chan (1st left, front row), director of Centre for Food and Drug Safety, Faculty of Medicine; and Dr. Ko Wing-man (4th right, front row), Secretary for Food and Health, delivered welcoming remarks and the opening address. The theme of the 2013 conference was 'Using Pharmacogenomics to Improve Drug Safety and Efficacy', and Prof. Zhou Hong-hao (3rd right, front row), director of Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, the Central South University, was the keynote speaker. Other guests included Ms. Linda Woo (4th left, front row), assistant director (drug), Department of Health.