The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Office of Public Health Studies (OPHS) hosted a UH-Fudan Public Health Summit September 26–28. Eight faculty members from Fudan University and Wuhan University in China—including Wen Chen, dean of the Fudan School of Public Health—attended the summit at East-West Center’s Jefferson Hall.
During the summit, UH Mānoa signed an agreement with Fudan University for 2016–2021 renewing the decade-long collaboration between the OPHS and Fudan University School of Public Health. The UH-Fudan agreement formalizes a BS/MS fast track program, also called the 4+1+1 Program. Students who pursue and successfully earn bachelor degrees at Fudan in preventive medicine study may then pursue a fast-track master’s degree in public health at UH Mānoa.
UH President David Lassner, School of Social Work Dean Noreen Mokuau and OPHS Director Kathryn Braun gave opening remarks, emphasizing the value of and their support for international exchange and collaborations.
“The successful 10-year relationship between UH Mānoa and Fudan University in public health is testament to the evolving need for international partnerships on global health,” stated Mokuau.
The summit’s main purpose was to highlight and promote academic exchange and research between UH Mānoa and China. Summit speakers shared views on health policy and reform, aging, environmental degradation and global health challenges—all important areas of public health.
Developing research through international exchange
“More than 125 Chinese students and faculty have visited UH, and more than 80 UH students and faculty have visited China. They all have benefited from this international exchange program by developing research credentials and experience,” said Yuanan Lu, the professor who has led OPHS since 2007. “The objective of our UH-China program is to enhance public health education globally and to promote international cooperation with China, the most populated country in the world.”
Over the past ten years, OPHS has worked with four leading schools of public health in China, including Fudan and Wuhan universities. Besides student and faculty exchange, research collaborations between OPHS and China have resulted in more than 50 peer-reviewed publications in environmental health, social and behavioral health, health policy and management and epidemiology.
OPHS pioneered fast-track degree programs at UH Mānoa, with its first agreement with Wuhan University in 2008. To date, OPHS has developed such agreements with four universities in China—Wuhan, Fudan, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Nanchang. OPHS also has agreements in place with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), the University of Tokyo, Korea University and Catholic University of Korea.
To further strengthen the UH Mānoa-China partnership, OPHS has established the China-Hawaiʻi Public Health Exchange Fund at the UH Foundation. To donate, go to the UH Foundation Website and search for account 12748304, or contact Yuanan Lu at (808) 956-2702 or yuanan@hawaii.edu.
