The Global Health Research Center (GHRC) was established in 2013 and co-founded by Duke Kunshan University and the Duke Global Health Institute. Our mission is to improve health and promote health equity in China and globally.
GHRC is built on the principles of scientific excellence and focuses on establishing interdisciplinary, mutually-beneficial collaborations with researchers from China. We aim to conduct high-quality research that leads to informed policy-making and innovative approaches to health challenges at local and global levels. Ultimately, we strive to make contributions to achieve the national goals identified in Healthy China 2030 and other Chinese policies as well as globally the health-related Sustainable Development Goals such as universal health coverage, health system strengthening, and infectious and NCD risk reduction.
Mission
To improve health in China and the world by conducting high-quality research that leads to informed policy making and innovative approaches to health challenges.
Vision
To promote health equity and improve health for all in China and worldwide.
received external funding support of
CNY 10,094,728
30%
From Government and International Organizations
55%
From Academic and Medical Institutions
15%
From Corporate Donations (via Duke Kunshan University Education Development Foundation)
published a total of
97 papers
61%
Published as first author or corresponding author
> 30%
Student-engaged papers
Journals include The Lancet
BMJ, Nature Communications, Environmental Science & Technology, JAMA Network Open
EClinicalMedicine
hosted
24 Symposiums and Workshops
11
Academic symposiums under the “This is Global Health!” Symposium Series
13
Academic workshops initiated by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Forum and ongoing research programs
More than a hundred faculty, students, and health administrators packed the Academic Building at Duke Kunshan University on the evening of April 22, 2026, for a joint event of the “This is Global Health!” Symposium Series and the DKU Distinguished Speaker Series. Kunshan Vice Mayor Shan Jie was also in attendance.
Shenglan Tang, co-director of the Global Health Research Center at Duke Kunshan University, has co-authored a new commentary in the Lancet with Michael Merson calling for more far-reaching reform of the World Health Organization.
The commentary, “Transforming WHO: incremental reform is no longer sufficient,” was published April 10.
Beginning on November 10, 2025, China officially included the domestic-made bivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine into the National Immunization Program (NIP), providing two doses free of charge to girls aged 13 years. This measure marks a critical step in China’s participation in the global effort to eliminate cervical cancer and is also regarded as an important exploration in expanding immunization services from a focus on infants and young children toward a life-course approach. Consequently, the implementation of HPV vaccination under the NIP also carries an important mission: to lay the foundation for establishing the adolescent routine immunization service system.
Since 2014, the Global Health Research Center 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 the end of 2024, the center had successfully hosted 197 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.
