For Jialin Zheng, M.D., it’s all about friendships. This week, Dr. Zheng will see the Asia Pacific Rim Development Program, the institutional collaboration he helped develop in 2004 between UNMC and universities in China, celebrate its 10th anniversary. “Time really flies,” said Dr. Zheng. “When you reach the 10-year mark, it gives you the opportunity to look back at what’s been achieved and look ahead to how you can achieve more.”
Program architects
Three people Dr. Zheng credits as being among the program’s architects offered their congratulations on the 10th anniversary: “The partnership between UNMC and its sister universities in China is an excellent example of international cooperation at its best. From the first exploratory visit, UNMC has stood by its claim of always doing what it says it will do, and our friends in China have reciprocated in kind. I look forward to seeing what the next 10 years will bring.”
– Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D., former vice chancellor for research “The strong ties that have developed over the years through these exchanges has been of mutual benefit for students, faculty, patient care and community engagement. In addition, it has fostered enduring friendships between and among institutions, and mutual respect and admiration between the peoples. Although cultures may be different and distances are great, our human needs are the same and overcome all obstacles to collaboration.”
– Harold M. Maurer, M.D., chancellor emeritus “I doubt any of us making our first visit to China in 2004 would have forecast the close relationships that have developed between UNMC faculty, staff and students and our Chinese counterparts. . . . Today, our relationship with China goes beyond education and includes research, clinical care and business relations. Nothing could be more satisfying than to have had the opportunity to witness the growing strength of these many relationships. I am confident that the next 10 years will deepen these relations, and the 20-year anniversary in 2024 will have even more to celebrate.”
– Don Leuenbeger, vice chancellor, business & finance
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., said UNMC is committed to continuing to strengthen the collaboration. Dr. Gold said goals going forward will include a focus on joint education, particularly enhancing the new joint family medicine program and the soon-to-be-established physical therapy program.
“We also look forward to potentially advancing our collaborations in dentistry, nursing, pharmacy and public health, strengthening the global impact of our health professions programs,” Dr. Gold said. Joint research in translational research program development will remain a focus as well, he said — promoting joint research proposal applications and facilitating technology development.
For information on the fifth annual APRDC Joint Research Symposium, to be held Thursday, click here.
In an era when it is increasingly important to be global thinkers, the collaboration has been and will continue to be very important to UNMC, said Dele Davies, M.D., vice chancellor of academic affairs. “The full value of the economic, sociologic and other intangible benefits of these ties cannot be easily quantified and may not be totally evident until a much later date,” he said.
As Vice Chancellor of Research Jennifer Larsen, M.D., noted, decade-long relationships are not built overnight. “The growth of our programs and interactions with multiple institutions and leaders in China are a testament to our commitment as well as our vision and desire for this relationship to grow,” she said.
The relationships are the key to the program’s success, Dr. Zheng agreed. “If there’s one thing I value, it’s the friendships which have been built among the leaders, students and faculty of the Chinese institutions and the leaders, students and faculty of UNMC as a whole,” Dr. Zheng said.
Those friendships, he said, are the foundation of 10 years of achievement, as well as the foundation “for what we can achieve many years beyond. “We have so many people who really provide support, from the leadership side, from the faculty perspective, from the student perspective,” he said. “This is truly a team effort.”