Chinese Partnership Expands With Launch of Fudan Institute of Global Health

Merson and Yonghao

DGHI's Michael Merson and Fudan's Yonghao Gui at the July partnership signing in Durham.

Published December 19, 2012, last updated on June 3, 2020 under Education News

The Duke Global Health Institute and Fudan University in Shanghai, China are advancing international collaborations in global health research and education as part of the launch of the Fudan Institute of Global Health.  Today’s announcement is an extension of the signing in July, which formalized the global health partnership.

The collaboration will provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student exchanges between Duke, Duke Kunshan University and Fudan University.  DGHI will facilitate the exchange of students between Fudan and a number of universities in African countries and identify research opportunities for graduate and doctoral student exchanges.

“We are pleased to expand our agreement to include student exchanges and joint research projects. Through these efforts, I know we can make important contributions to field of global health.” said Duke University Provost Peter Lange. “Duke and Fudan University have been great friends and collaborators for many years.  We value the partnerships we’ve made in the humanities, maternal and child health, and global health.”

DGHI and the Fudan Institute of Global Health will also jointly support interdisciplinary research in Asia and Africa in an effort to strengthen south-south partnerships and leverage research funding opportunities to address important global health issues like non-communicable diseases.

In July, Duke hosted a visit to Durham by Dr. Yonghao Gui, Fudan Vice President and Dean of Shanghai Medical College. That visit marked the beginning of a new partnership in global health and laid the groundwork for the collaborations announced today.

This week, DGHI and Duke leaders, along with partners from Wuhan University and the city of Kunshan, also celebrated the first phase of the establishment of Duke Kunshan University (DKU). The campus will be a home for many of Duke’s educational and research efforts in China and will make it more convenient for Duke faculty and students to collaborate with Chinese partners. The campus will also house a Global Health Research Center, which will be led by DGHI faculty member Shenglan Tang. The Center will address health issues in China and the region such as chronic disease, environmental health and health systems reform.

"I know we can make important contributions to the field of global health."

- Provost Peter Lange