A Duke Kunshan University delegation led by Chancellor Youmei Feng visited Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) and the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) to strengthen existing partnerships and explore new opportunities for collaboration.
The series of bilateral talks from May 30 to June 1 between Duke Kunshan and three of Singapore’s leading health organizations highlighted the potential for joint working on global health initiatives and in areas such as clinical training, health and biomedical research, and healthcare management.
At the meeting between Chancellor Feng, Dr. Shenglan Tang, who is co-director of the Duke Kunshan Global Health Research Center (GHRC), and Dean of Duke-NUS Dr. Thomas Coffman, both parties expressed their ambitions for enhancing academic cooperation following last year’s launch of the Duke Kunshan–Duke-NUS Medicine Pathway.
Jointly developed by Duke Kunshan and Duke-NUS, the pathway allows successful applicants to intentionally connect their undergraduate studies at Duke Kunshan with their graduate medical education plans at Duke-NUS.
During the delegation’s visit to SingHealth, which is a partner of Duke-NUS and the largest public healthcare provider in Singapore, Chancellor Feng and Group Chief Executive Officer of SingHealth Dr. Ivy Ng discussed the opportunities for cooperation in clinical medical research and training.
They agreed to explore developing further partnerships in global health and related domains, including hospital collaboration as well as resident and nursing training, as part of the broader goal to deepen university-hospital cooperation globally.
To facilitate this collaboration, Feng and Ng discussed establishing joint training programs and qualification certification systems. Furthermore, they emphasized the importance of developing a platform to support effective and efficient joint initiatives going forward.
At SDGHI, its director Dr. Tan Hiang Khoon outlined the global health institute’s key focus areas — which include policy, research, innovation, clinical medicine and education — to the Duke Kunshan delegation.
He extended an invitation to local hospitals in Kunshan to participate in SDGHI’s regional cooperation center and work together towards establishing a world-class medical service center.
The aim is to foster a collaborative culture in creating a center of excellence for medical services.
Duke Kunshan was founded in 2013 as a joint-venture partnership of Duke University, Wuhan University and the city of Kunshan.
Its interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs prepare students for professional, intellectual and societal leadership roles across the globe, while faculty in research centers and beyond lead efforts in seeking solutions to the major challenges faced by the world.
GHRC became Duke Kunshan’s first research center when it was jointly founded in 2013 by DKU and the Duke Global Health Institute. The global health program focuses on health policy and system research, environmental health, chronic non-communicable diseases, emerging infectious diseases and healthy aging.
Duke Kunshan has consistently ranked in the top 1 percent in the clinical medicine category of the Essential Science Indicators subject list due to its outstanding research and publication record in global health and related fields.
Established in 2005 as a collaboration between Duke University and NUS, Duke-NUS is the first and only U.S.-style graduate medical school in Singapore. Its graduates are awarded a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree jointly by Duke University School of Medicine and NUS, two world-class educational institutions.
Recognized as a world-leading public healthcare institution, SingHealth encompasses a large network of hospitals and national medical centers to offer comprehensive multi-disciplinary care across 42 clinical diagnosis and treatment specialties.
