PKUHSC was recently recognized by the Chinese government as a National Center for International Research.

The school is the first academic medical center to receive the honor, bestowed early this year from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. While PKUHSC has many partnerships abroad, the relationship with Michigan Medicine is the institution’s longest-running and largest international partnership.

University of Michigan leaders including JI Co-director Joseph Kolars visited the PKUHSC cam-pus in January for a celebration to dedicate the new National Center.

“On behalf of Michigan Medicine, we treasure our friendship with Peking University Health Science Center and are extremely proud to celebrate this achievement with them,” said Kolars, UMMS Senior Associate Dean for Education and Global Initiatives. “The National Center designation is well deserved and will no doubt help highlight and elevate the work of our JI researchers.”

During the celebration event, several JI project investigators from PKUHSC were able to present about their collaborations with Michigan Medicine colleagues to an audience that included top-level officials from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

“This National Center designation distinguishes our collaboration and will be beneficial in helping to leverage more government support for our partnership and joint projects,” said PKUHSC Vice President Ning Zhang.