Jiao Tong, Yale university experts take part in health forum

A forum has been held online by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Yale University, in which officials and experts from China and the US had a discussion on global public health policy research.

Chen Ningshan, deputy director-general of the Department of Law and Legislation of the Chinese National Health Commission, said major public health emergencies like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic require action from every country, every community and every person, and research on global public health management and international cooperation is extremely important.

During the forum, the board of directors for the Yale-SJTU Joint Center for Public Health was established, with Jiao Tong’s vice president Xu Xuemin being leader of the board.

Xu said the forum was meaningful as the whole world is facing the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said experts from the Yale-SJTU Joint Center for Public Health have appeared on major media more than 30 times to share knowledge about the novel coronavirus, while their Joint Biostatistics Center and Immune-metabolic Research Center have also made progress in related research. She called for more cooperation and exchange between experts of public health policy research from the universities to make contributions to the establishment of a global public health management system.

Pericles Lewis, vice president of Yale, said the two universities had long and fruitful cooperation in scientific research and the two countries had a lot to do in terms of cooperation in public health.

Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission, said they summarized the key tips in China’s fight against COVID-19, including the strong mobility of social organizations and citizens, self-discipline of the public, correct assessments and measures taken by the governments and the dedication and professionalism of medics.

Other experts also shared their views on how China and the US can coordinate with each other when facing emergencies in public health and potential research directions and programs for future cooperation.

Paul Cleary, former dean of Yale's School of Public Health, said the whole world needs to enhance sharing of information to fight against the pandemic and prevent such events from happening again.

Wang Hui, dean of the SJTU's School of Public Health, said information technology and big data should be applied more to control the pandemic.

Chen Xi, an assistant professor at the Yale's School of Public Health, said China and the US should strengthen cooperation in cultivating and training talent in public health in the future.