A six-member delegation from China paid a visit to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and the National Institutes of Health(NIH) in Bethseda, Maryland, from April 4-6, 2017. The delegation included representatives from the Guangdong Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission, Southern Medical University, Dermatology Hospital of Southern Medical University. During their visit to the UNC, the delegation met with representatives of different units including:
- Ron Strauss, DMD, PhD, Executive Vice Provost and Chief International Officer at UNC,
- Wesley Burks, MD, Executive Dean for the UNC School of Medicine,
- Myron Cohen, MD, Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health at UNC and Director of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases,
- Jim Herrington, PhD, Executive Director of the UNC Global Gateway,
- Kate Muessig, PhD, UNC Department of Health Behavior,
- Amanda Corbett, PharmD, Clinical Associate Professor and Global Pharmacology Coordinator, and
- Arlene Seña, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine in UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases.
The main purpose of the meeting was to review the existing partnerships with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, to discuss how to maintain and improve the current partnership and to explore new collaborations in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention between UNC and China.
The delegation also visited the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of NIH. They met with Ken Bridbord, MD, MPH, Acting Division of International Relations Director of FIC, and Carolyn Deal, PhD, the head of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Branch of NIAID. During the meeting, the Chinese Delegates discussed the potential opportunities for the sustaining of UNC-South China Training Center for STI with representatives of NIH, and discussed potential future collaboration.