The year of 2025 was remarkable for profound changes that have redefined the global health landscape. From the expansion of immunization programs here in China to the burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) worldwide, and from massive funding cuts to the insidious effects of climate change, while powerful and rapidly advancing artificial intelligence dominated the headlines, we remained focused on a single imperative: how to translate innovation into equitable and sustainable impact. It is in this spirit that we present this annual report.

The Innovation Lab for Vaccine Delivery Research (VaxLab) exemplifies how we translate innovation to impact. Since 2022, our team has published 50 peer-reviewed articles while simultaneously advancing policy dialogue at the highest levels. We take particular pride in VaxLab’s role in supporting China’s national decision to offer free bivalent HPV vaccines to adolescent girls—a landmark policy change benefiting millions of families. This outcome is a result of evidence-based policy; it is what becomes possible when evidence meets persistent, multi-stakeholder advocacy.

Bridging research and practice also extends to NCDs prevention. Our work focuses on hypertension and diabetes among older adults in primary care settings. To date, our team has been working in China, Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Tanzania to tackle these common NCDs and the complex issues of multimorbidity. The findings from our research continue to inform national policies and efforts toward health system strengthening.

Innovation remains shelved in aspiration without translation. Impact requires persistence, partnership, and the courage to work across boundaries. In 2025, through the CREATIV initiative, a project that we co-launched with Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, we take actions to strengthen regulatory capacity for in-vitro diagnostic manufacturers from China and across Asia – to accelerate access to affordable diagnostics in the low- and middle-income countries that need them most.

Education remains central to our mission. This year, 30 global health students co-authored 20 peer-reviewed publications. Four Master students were selected for the Duke Global Policy Program in Geneva, and seven earned top honors in the 5th DKU Innovation Challenge. Their work, including AI-powered nutrition platforms, screen-free metro health initiatives, vaccine communication strategies for older adults, reflects not only technical proficiency but soaring imagination.

We extend our sincere gratitude to all our partners across the Duke family, in government and NGOs, in academia and industry, both in China and globally, for making our work possible.

We are deeply grateful for the vital support of our donors, including the Gates Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, E-Fund, Xingzheng Global Fund Management, and Ningquan Asset Management.

Our heartfelt thanks go to colleagues at Duke University, Duke-NUS, and all collaborating institutions. Above all, we thank our faculty, staff, and students, whose passion and rigor are the driving force behind this report.

As we look to 2026, we do so with clarity and purpose—and with sober recognition of the global health headwinds. Now more than ever, the question is not whether our research is excellent, but whether it matters. Whether health solutions reach those who need them the most. Whether health policy strengthens systems to move the needle toward better health equity. This is the standard to which we hold ourselves. This is what it means to move from innovation to impact.

We invite you to join us in this work.