The 20thannual Chia Family Foundation Health Fellowship Program virtual conference was successfully held on December 4th. The conference was co-hosted by Xiangya Hospital of Central South University and Yale-China Association. Parallel sessions were held at Changsha, Hunan Province, Kunming, Yunnan Province, and New Haven, United States.

Nearly one hundred participants attended the hybrid conference (online and offline), including: Chairman Pei-Yuan Chia and CFO Candice Chia of the Chia Family Foundation; Mr. Drake Pike, Chair of the Board, President John Frisbie, Dr. Barry Wu, Vice-Chair of Board and Chairman of the Yale-China Health Committee, Ping Liang, Ex-Chair of Board and Director, Dr. Junya Zhu, Director of Health Fellowship Program of the Yale-China Association; Prof. Robert Rohrbaugh and Mary Hu, Deputy Deans of Yale School of Medicine; Prof. LaRon Nelson, Deputy Dean of Yale School of Nursing; Prof. Nancy Reynolds, Associate Dean of the School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University; Associate Professor Mayur Desai, Associate Dean of Yale School of Public Health; Prof. Xie Baosheng, Vice President and Guo Haiyun, Director of Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of Kunming Medical University; Prof. Cao Ya, Advisor to Yale-China Association; Dr. Tan Jianyou, Head of the Xiangya Overseas Alumni and Director of Yale-China Association; Prof. Chang Shi, Party Secretary of the Xiangya School of Medicine of Central South University; Prof. Zhang Xin, Party Secretary of Xiangya Hospital; experts and scholars from Yale University and Yale-China Association, as well as Chia Fellows and related personnel from Xiangya institutions, Kunming Medical University, Jishou People’s Hospital and Hua Yuan People’s Hospital. The opening ceremony of the conference was hosted by Wu Xiaochuang, Deputy Dean of the Xiangya School of Medicine.

According to Party Secretary Chang Shi's presentation, the Chia Family Foundation Health Fellowship Program was established in Xiangya Hospital by Yale-China Association and funded by the Chia family in the United States in 1998. The Program has sponsored 43 female medical professionals in fields such as nursing, public health, clinical medicine, and mental health over its 23 years of operation at Xiangya School of Medicine. The Program provided these female scholars a positive platform which helped shape their sense of research, sense of community, sense of teamwork and professional capabilities. The Program also help promoted the development of disciplines such as health care, nursing and public health within the hospital and its affiliated branches.

Chair of the Board Pike pointed out that, since the outbreak of COVID-19, leaders of various organizations have managed to stay in close contact through technical means such as Wechat, telephone, Zoom and Email, looking forward to face-to-face communication. According to Dr. Pike, the isolation brought by the pandemic came to reveal the great willingness of cooperation of various parties for the common good of medical care and public health, which also highlights the significance of the organization of the Annual Chia Family Foundation Health Fellowship Conference.

Vice President Xie Baosheng introduced the partnership between Kunming Medical University and Yale-China Association on the Chia Family Foundation Health Fellowship Program. Ever since its establishment in 2007, two female medical professionals are dispatched through the program each year for further studies and research at Yale University. In recent years, Kunming Medical University unswervingly carried out the education opening-up strategy, actively collaborating with universities and institutions worldwide such as Yale-China Association and Yale University. Vice President Xie Baosheng wishes to seize the opportunity of the annual conference to further enhance cooperation with American institutions and universities, Xiangya School of Medicine of Central South University and its affiliated branches in areas such as medical education, health care, public health service system development, disease prevention and control, further boosting China-US collaboration in medical education and health care.

Party Secretary Zhang Xin stated that the topic of the annual conference - “Chronic Disease Management and Health Promotion Among Older Adults” is of practical significance and meets the needs of the nowadays society with increasingly prominent aging population. Xiangya Hospital is home to the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases and is currently constructing the National Geriatrics Regional Medical Care Center. Xiangya Hospital wishes to discuss in depth with experts from Yale University and Kunming Medical University and Chia Fellows on the issue of geriatric chronic disease management and elderly health.

Associate Professor Soohyun Nam from Yale School of Nursing delivered keynote speech titled “Changes to Improve Chronic Disease Management and Health Promotion for Older Adults” during the expert lecture session, sharing information on chronic disease management model, digitalized health management and application of wearable devices in the elderly population. Prof. Feng Hui, the Chia Fellow in 2007 from Xiangya Nursing School introduced the application of m-Health in geriatric health promotion, demonstrating at length the design philosophy and process of smart application products for the elderly using mobile technology. Deputy Director Long Chang of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of Xiangya Hospital chaired the session.

In the Chia Fellow report session, Prof. Liu Hong of Department of Geriatrics of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Prof. Fan Jinghua of the Infectious Diseases Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Supervisor Nurse She Pan of Department of Orthopedics of Xiangya Hospital, Supervisor Nurse Pu Yuxiu of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University shared their respective clinical experience, research results, feelings and learned lessons around topics such as geriatric chronic disease management, Hepatitis C screening management and viral hepatitis elimination, nutritional status survey on elderly patients with hip fracture, as well as refined nutritional support nursing. Li Li, Chia Fellow in 2011 and Deputy Director of the Clinical Nursing Teaching and Research Section of Xiangya Hospital hosted the session.

In addition, as Chia Fellows in 2019, Chief Physician Lu Jin of the Psychiatric Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Associate Professor of Nursing Zheng Feng of the Cardiology Department of the Third Xiangya Hospital, Supervisor Nurse Yang Jiao of Yunnan Cancer Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Assistant Professor Zhou Wei of the School of Public Administration of Hunan University presented their respective project progress and research results in combined format of posters and recorded videos.

Prof. Li Xuejun, Director of the Office of International Communication and Exchange of Xiangya Hospital, stated in his closing remark that Xiangya has always attached great importance to collaboration with Yale-China Association and the Chia Family Foundation. Though separated physically by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chia Fellows shall continue to brainstorm online and generate wonderful research exchange. It is believed that as the pandemic dies down, Xiangya will gradually resume international exchanges offline with old acquaintances and new friends. At that time, more Chia Fellows shall be sent to Yale University to study advanced nursing and public health knowledge, further promoting China-US academic exchange in health.