The University of Nebraska Medical Center has taken three major steps in expanding its presence in China. The initiatives include opening an office at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing, creating the Sino-U.S. Center for Lymphoma and Leukemia in Tianjin, and establishing a unique training center for family practice physicians in Xi’an.
“Our partnerships and collaborations with Chinese institutions, students and faculty are major points of pride for us at UNMC,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “The Beijing office provides us a base of operations to enhance and increase such ventures.”
In addition to raising UNMC’s profile in China, Dr. Maurer said the office will help UNMC recruit top Chinese students and faculty for future collaborations and support UNMC faculty and students who work and study in China.
UNMC is one of just a few U.S. universities to have an office in Beijing and is the first University of Nebraska campus to have a Chinese office.
While in China, Dr. Maurer received an honorary professorship from the CAS and chaired and presented at the third International Conference on World Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The Sino-U.S. Center for Lymphoma and Leukemia is located at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital and Institute (TMUCHI), the leading center in China for cancer treatment, prevention and education.
It will allow UNMC to use its world-class expertise in lymphoma to improve outcomes for lymphoma patients in China, said Kai Fu, M.D., Ph.D., a UNMC pathologist who is a native of Tianjin and an alumnus of Tianjin Medical University.
Dr. Fu said lymphoma treatments in China lag behind the therapies that are available in other countries.
“It’s the timely diagnosis and correct classification of lymphoma that is the biggest problem,” he said. “There are more than 60 different types/subtypes of lymphoma. It’s critical to know exactly what type/subtype a patient has, so the most effective therapy can be administered.”
The center will focus on diagnosis, therapy and research activities and will include the following components:
· TMUCHI will send tissue samples of difficult cases to UNMC to insure a proper diagnosis is made.
· UNMC will provide training to TMUCHI personnel to enhance their clinical and diagnostic skills. One oncologist and one pathologist from TMUCHI have already come to UNMC to receive six months of training and another pathologist is scheduled to come in early 2010.
· A variety of basic and clinical research collaborations including parallel clinical trials are in planning.
The training center for family practice physicians in China is called the Sino-U.S. Training Center for General Practitioners. It is a partnership between UNMC and Xi’an Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (XJTUSM) and has been in the works for more than two years.
“We are thrilled to be part of this unique partnership and to help meet the call for more family medicine practitioners in China," said Mike Sitorius, M.D., chairman of UNMC’s family medicine department.
Like the United States, China is in the midst of a health care reform movement, Dr. Sitorius said. Historically, Chinese medical education has primarily focused on preparation of physician specialists. The Chinese system has had no family medicine specialty and residence programs.
A primary goal of China’s health care reform is to improve access to medical care at the community hospital level, Dr. Sitorius said. This will require more family practice physicians.
Under the agreement, UNMC’s family medicine department will train XJTUSM faculty and help the Chinese university develop curriculum to educate Chinese-adapted family medicine practitioners. The agreement also establishes plans for a faculty and student exchange program.
Last year, three UNMC family medicine faculty members presented a short course in rural, public and family medicine in Xi’an. Earlier this month, the first XJTUSM faculty member came to Omaha to train at UNMC and other faculty members are expected to follow.
Two key UNMC officials were awarded visiting professorships. Don Leuenberger, vice chancellor for business and finance, was honored by Xian Jiao Tong University Health Science Center, while Tom Rosenquist, vice chancellor for research, was recognized by the Beijing Life Science Institute of the CAS.
Dr. Rosenquist, Leuenberger and others from UNMC attended the Chinese Scholarship Council annual meeting in Beijing. Forty-nine Chinese universities and 10 U.S. universities — including Yale and Harvard — attended the meeting.
As the state’s only academic health science center, UNMC is on the leading edge of health care. Breakthroughs are possible because hard-working researchers, educators and clinicians are resolved to work together to fuel discovery. In 2009, UNMC’s extramural research support topped $100 million for the first time, resulting in the creation of 3,600 jobs in Nebraska. UNMC’s academic excellence is shown through its award-winning programs, and its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through its commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading health care centers. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 550 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.