Contributing to the development of global health

2018-01-25

Early 2018, KI has launched its first global alumni chapter, KI Alumni China. Global alumni chapters are alumni networks based on geographical area. These regional networks in hub cities around the world provide a professional network for KI’s alumni who live and work outside of Sweden. I am also pleased to welcome KI’s first alumni ambassador to China, Claire Ye, who graduated from KI:s Master’s program in Bioentrepreneurship in 2012.

Global Alumni Chapter, China Launch. Photo: Erik Flyg

For KI, alumni networks are a vehicle for keeping in touch with our former students and researchers. As an international university, we build collaboration with universities and industry around the world, and our alumni can help initiate and facilitate these relationships.

Our recent visit to Hong Kong

These were also some of the topics discussed on our recent visit to Hong Kong and the Shenzhen region, China, with special focus on the need in the fields of higher education and health care and also on their investments in the development of medical technologies, medical imaging and personalized medicine.

KI is committed to actively contribute to the development of global health and health equity within our competence and resources.

Following the consolidation of the Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine (MWLC) in Hong Kong, our hope is that suitable conditions will prevail for extending our collaboration to other partners in the region.

A model for other universities

A year has passed since the inauguration of MWLC and I was happy to get a first impression of our Hong Kong site and to meet with the administration and the researchers of the centre in December 2017. The research programs and progress in the establishment of research teams are right on track. As a pioneer research centre MWLC is a model for other international universities that are interested in establishing themselves in the area.

During our recent visit, the importance of maintaining full academic freedom was brought up in several of the meetings we had. We were happy to find that we seem to share these values and that our staff in Hong Kong are working under the same academic principles as in Sweden.