Wednesday, Thursday, October 23 – 24, 2019
The New Hotel, 58 Beishan Rd, Xihu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Zhejiang University School of Medicine & Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons

The Wu Family China Center for Health Initiatives at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is committed to creating and encouraging research-based partnerships between outstanding institutions within the United States and China. 

Founded by the late Dr. Clyde Y.C. Wu (VP&S 1956) and his wife, Mrs. Helen Tseng Wu, with an endowment in 2015, the Wu Family China Center seeks: 

“To permit faculty from outstanding institutions to put their minds together to pursue collaborative initiatives in research, clinical care, and teaching in the medical sciences of potential benefit to all. Both the U.S. and China have great traditions of learning in many fields, notably in medicine. Each nation has proven strengths. Each can learn from the other and together develop treatment regimens and models of teaching and clinical care of mutual benefit and universal significance.” 

The first meeting of the Wu Family China Center took place on October 25, 2015, at the home of Sir Gordon and Lady Ivy Wu in Hong Kong. During the meeting, it was suggested that the Wu Family China Center hold board meetings and symposia each fall, alternating annually between the U.S. and China. 

On March 31, 2016, the official dedication ceremony of the Wu Family China Center took place in the Low Library Rotunda of Columbia University. During the ceremony, the Dr. Clyde and Mrs. Helen Wu Distinguished Award for International Understanding was presented to Dr. Henry Kissinger for his pioneering role in the establishment of diplomat relations between China and the U.S. in 1971. Dr. Chen Zhu was the 2017 recipient of the award, conferred on the ZJU campus in Hangzhou, China. Every year since, delegations from Zhejiang University School of Medicine (ZUSM) have visited Columbia University. During these visits, faculty members from VP&S and ZUSM share their respective areas of expertise and evaluate the synergies of collaborations going forward. 

To encourage research-based collaborations in various medical fields, the Wu Family China Center provides postdoctoral fellowships and joint symposia. Postdoctoral fellowships offer postdocs from ZUSM with training opportunities at VP&S for up to 12 months. Joint symposia provide unprecedented opportunities for faculty members from both institutions to present on a broad range of biomedical research and explore prospective joint initiatives. These two activities have become an essential part of the Wu Family China Center's efforts to foster academic and research-based partnerships.

The Wu Family China Center hosted symposia in Hangzhou, China, in 2017, and New York City in 2018.