WHO Selects GHRC as Health Policy and System Research Hub

The Global Health Research Center (GHRC) at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) has been selected by the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO) as a Research Hub for health policy and system research. The APO is hosted in WHO’S Western Pacific Regional Office.

The research hub will be led by Shenglan Tang, founding director of the Global Health Research Center at DKU and associate director for DKU and China initiatives at the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI). The DKU research hub is one of three selected by the APO, putting it in very exclusive company.

The DKU Research Hub will combine the strengths of ten research institutions with complementary expertise in the Asia Pacific region, including:

• DKU Global Health Research Center
• Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS)
• Monash University Malaysia
• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Fudan University School of Public Health
• Chinese Ministry of Health, National Center for Health Statistics and Information
• Hanoi School of Public Health
• Vietnamese Ministry of Health, Health Policy and Strategy Institute
• Fiji National University
• National Institute of Public Health Laos

The specific goals of the DKU Research Hub are to:

• Create a body of knowledge and evidence on health systems in the Asia Pacific region, comparable across countries, through collection and analysis of information and research evidence on health care policies and reforms
• Engage in dialogues with key stakeholders, including government, development partners, NGOs and academia, to inform a shared assessment of each health system’s strengths and weaknesses
• Use the assessment to build consensus on policy recommendations and help develop evidence-informed health policies within participating countries
• Develop and strengthen national and regional capacities in research, analysis and knowledge translation

‘Having the research hub at DKU will provide us with an excellent opportunity to generate new knowledge for strengthening health systems in Asian and Pacific countries, thus improving the health of the people in the region,’ said Tang.

The APO’a conglomerate of governments, development agencies, and the research community’oversees the research hub network, which plays a critical role in its research output. Network members work with the APO to conduct comparative country studies, organize policy dialogues, produce its flagship knowledge products and host its fellows.

This rich network of local knowledge, combined with a regional perspective, is what makes the APO’s research hubs so unique, relevant and influential.