The Center for Globalization at Baylor College of Medicine has two new international collaborators in health care and education.
Dr. Bobby Kapur, director of the Center for Globalization and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at BCM, has announced collaborations with Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, and the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.
“These institutions are well established universities with similar academic and clinical platforms as BCM,” said Kapur, who is also associate chief of emergency medicine at Ben Taub General Hospital. “These collaborations will allow for a free flow of ideas between multiple countries and international institutions. We can learn from each other and incorporate a wider range of practices in education, research, patient care and community outreach.”
Sun Yat-sen University
A memorandum of understanding was signed late last year between Sun Yat-sen University and BCM to establish the foundation for future education endeavors such as joint multidisciplinary research projects and creation of a shared research space at Sun Yat-sen.
The Dean of Medical Education at Sun Yat-sen has already agreed to sponsor BCM clinicians as visiting faculty to the university. The initiatives of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) will also include exchange programs for students and faculty.
“Partnering with one of the oldest and most well established Western medical schools in China will allow us to expand on existing joint research projects while opening the door for more opportunities,” said Kapur.
Dr. Michael Coburn, chair and professor of urology and director of the Residency Training Program at BCM, has worked with the university on past research projects and was present at the MOU signing. Dr. Zhou Songyang, professor in biochemistry, is another connection to the university. He holds a joint appointment as Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Sun Yat-Sen.
American University in Beirut
The signing of an MOU with the American University in Beirut will also expand on existing collaborations. Many faculty have worked with AUB, including Dr. Nasser Lakkis, professor of medicine – cardiology, and Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor of molecular and human genetics, pediatrics, neurology and neuroscience and director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital. Both Lakkis and Zoghbi are also alumni of AUB.
“Baylor has a long history of working with AUB. Many of our residents and fellows have studied there and our faculty have worked on research studies,” Kapur said.
Future plans for this collaboration include joint continuing medical education programs, a student, faculty and resident exchange program and joint research projects. A coordinating committee has already been created with BCM and AUB faculty to carry out these initiatives.
“They will create more opportunities for our faculty, students and residents through multidisciplinary projects and clinical collaborations down the road,” Kapur said.
Partnerships
The goal of the Center for Globalization at BCM is to create a network of global academic alliances that will further the missions of the college. These most recent MOU signings align with prior collaborations that BCM is working to expand, including University of Botswana in Africa, Monterey Institute of Technology and Education in Mexico, Jiao Tong University in China, Dong-A University in Korea, Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden.
(Source: BCM Release)