China
A longstanding collaboration
Since China first opened its doors to the West, we’ve conducted innovative research here with partner organizations. Among our current projects: how to crowdsource ideas for reaching target audiences about HIV and STIs.
The mission of UNC Project-China is to work collaboratively through research, teaching and service to improve the health of China and promote the University’s presence in China.
UNC Project-China is a collaboration between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Chinese partner organizations, including 10 institutes across the country.
Current research includes work on a vaccine and diagnostic test for syphilis; self-testing for HIV, syphilis, and HCV; and crowdsourcing to engage communities, promote health, and increase testing. Our crowdsourcing work now informs the guidelines for the World Health Organization. We also staff a UNC-South China sexually transmitted diseases research training center and offer short- and medium-term training in enhancing infectious diseases research.
Service activities include staffing, designing, and implementing services for gay men’s health at Southern Medical University; enhancing health services, including clinical and prevention efforts, for African migrants in Guangzhou; and public engagement programs around healthy cities, women leaders, pay-it-forward, and more.
Much of the project’s innovations can be found in its SESH, or Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health, work. A partnership between UNC and Southern Medical University Dermatology Hospital, SESH aims to create more creative, equitable, and effective health services using crowdsourcing contests and other social entrepreneurship tools. Crowdsourcing is the process of having a group solve a problem and then sharing that solution widely with the public.