Liang Ping, chair of the Board of Yale-China Association, Dr. Barry Wu, chair of Yale-China Health Committee and relevant members, Dr. Nelson LaRon, associate dean of Yale School of Nursing, Mary Hu, associate dean of Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Mayur Desai, associate dean of Yale School of Public Health, Dr. Nancy Reynolds, associate dean of John Hopkins School of Nursing, Cao Ya, China advisor to the Yale-China Association and former deputy mayor of Changsha Municipal People’s Government, Zhang Xin, secretary of the party committee of Xiangya Hospital, Wu Xiaochuang, deputy dean of Xiangya School of Medicine, Peng Xiaoning, dean of Jishou University School of Medicine, Yan Guixin, president of Huayuan County People’s Hospital, Luo Xinfei, president of Fenghuang County People’s Hospital, as well as experts and scholars from Yale University and Yale-China Association, Chia fellows and relevant staff from Xiangya hospitals and Western Hunan region attended the conference online or offline. The opening ceremony was hosted by Li Xuejun, director of the Office for International Cooperation and Exchange of Xiangya Hospital.

According to Dr. Zhang Xin, Xiangya Hospital and Yale-China Association have maintained close partnership and exchanges for the past century. Since its foundation in 1998, the Chia Family Health Fellowship program has cultivated 67 Yale Chia fellows for Changsha and Kunming, among whom 9 fellows are from Xiangya Hospital and have become the backbone and outstanding scholars of their professional fields. Since 2012, the program has expanded to Western Hunan, where 4-8 female health professionals are selected and funded annually to receive training in Xiangya hospitals for 5 months. Zhang Xin said that Xiangya Hospital will, as always, support the program to promote the professional development of female health professionals in Western Hunan, and strengthen the partnership between Xiangya and Western Hunan.

Ms. Liang Ping said, although the COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the global public health system, the communication and exchanges between Yale-China Association, Xiangya and Western Hunan are not affected, and our communications become even more frequent. So far, Western Hunan Chia Health Fellowship program has trained 39 female health professionals from Western Hunan region and they have become the backbone of the hospital faculty or leaders of health workforce at grassroot level. From this year, the program will enhance the cooperation between Xiangya and Western Hunan at both the individual and hospital levels, in order to improve the public health service capacity in Western Hunan and the health status of the local people.

During the lecture session, Professor Luo Jing, a 2008 Chia fellow from the Ophthalmology Department of the Second Xiangya Hospital, introduced the project conducted by her team on artificial intelligence-assisted screening of diabetic retinopathy in remote areas of Hunan province and achievements obtained; Wu Liaofang, a 2009 Chia fellow and the head nurse from the Endocrinology Department of Xiangya Hospital, introduced the successes, challenges and implications of continuous care for diabetic patients.

Eleven Western Hunan Chia fellows from Huayuan County People’s Hospital and Fenghuang County People’s Hospital delivered reports on the theme of “prevention and management of chronic diseases in rural Hunan”, in the form of recorded video and PowerPoint presentation, to showcase their project progress and research results.