The global population landscape is undergoing profound transformation. Low fertility, population aging, regional disparities, unequal health resources, and the impacts of climate change have made “The Future of World Population and Global Health” an urgent global concern.
Marking the UN’s 80th anniversary, this moment invites diverse perspectives to examine emerging demographic and health trends, shared challenges, and the coordinating role of international organizations.
We are honored to welcome Prof. John Wilmoth, Director of the United Nations Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Prof. Leiwen Jiang, Founding Director of Asian Demographic Research Institute at Shanghai University; and Prof. Sajeda Amin, Senior Research Advisor at the Sajida Foundation in Bangladesh. Drawing on their expertise in global population governance, demographic modeling, and health practice, they will share insights on key population and health issues and foster dialogue among scholars and students.
Symposium Agenda
Time: 17:45-19:15, October 28 (Tuesday), 2025
Venue: Lecture Hall, 1F, Innovation Building, Duke Kunshan University
17:45–18:00 Welcome and Opening remarks
Bo Chen, Student of MSc-GH Program, Class of 2027
Special celebration: Celebration for 80th UNJohn Quelch, Executive Vice Chancellor, Duke Kunshan University and John deButts Professor of Practice, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
18:00–18:45 Keynote SpeechTopic: The future of world population and global health: Diverging trends, competitive narratives and the role of the United NationsJohn Wilmoth, Director of the Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations18:45–19:15 Panel Discussion and Q&AModerator:Lijing Yan, Professor and Head of NCD Research, Global Health Research Center, Duke Kunshan UniversityPanelists:
John Wilmonth
Director of the Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United NationsMr. John Wilmoth has been Director of the United Nations Population Division, within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, since 2013. He served as Officer-in-Charge (Acting Director) of the Division for Inclusive Social Development from March 2022 through August 2024. He worked previously for the Population Division as Chief of the Mortality Section from 2005 to 2007. He began his career in 1990 by teaching and conducting research at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Wilmoth was Professor at UC Berkeley through 2014 and is now Professor Emeritus in Berkeley’s Department of Demography. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 scientific papers on various aspects of population dynamics. From 2009 to 2012, he was engaged as a consultant by the World Health Organization and the World Bank to lead the development of new maternal mortality estimates for the global monitoring of the Millennium Development Goals. He has also served on several expert panels convened by the U.S. Government or National Academy of Sciences.
Leiwen Jiang
Founding Director, Asian Demographic Research Institute, Shanghai University
Leiwen Jiang is Professor and Founding Director of Asian Demographic Research Institute (ADRI) at Shanghai University. He adopts multidisciplinary methods and conducts comparative analysis in order to improve demographic modelling for global and regional development assessment. His recent projects explore environmental implications of socioeconomic and demographic dynamics, study socioecological effects of international migration under the Belt-and-Road Initiative and examine the impacts of urbanization trends for meeting climate change challenges and achieving global development goals. He taught at Brown University and Peking University, was a scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and chief demographer at the Population Action International (PAI). He serves on the boards of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID). He was also lead author of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report and a member of the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Climate Change, chaired the Scholarship Program of IPCC WGIII Technical Committee.
Sajeda Amin
Senior Research Advisor, Sajida Foundation, Bangladesh
Sajeda Amin is a Senior Research Advisor at Sajida Foundation in Bangladesh. Previously she was associated with PopulationCouncil for 30 years as Senior Associate and GIRL Center affiliate till May 2024. A social demographer by training, she has conducted research in Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Vietnam. She has served on advisory boards and consulted with national NGOs and UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank. Her research training is in demography/sociology (PhD, 1988, Princeton University) as well as public policy (Masters in Public Affairs,1984, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs).
About “This is Global Health! Monthly Symposium Series”
Since 2014, the Global Health Research Center (GHRC) at Duke Kunshan University has organized a series of global health symposium events, inviting leaders, scientists, and industry experts in the global health field to exchange information on the latest research progress, international and domestic development trends, and global health education and practice. By October 2025, GHRC had successfully hosted 202 seminars. Starting in Fall 2024, the series has been renamed and restructured from the “Aegon-Industrial Global Health Seminar Series” to the “This is Global Health! Monthly Symposium Series,” featuring a new format of panel talks and a vision for greater impact.
