Latest News

March 7, 2023

Welcome 2023 Equity Initiative Fellows!

Congratulations to the 30 Fellows who join the Equity Initiative’s 2023 cohort! EI is designed to build a generation of leaders (500+ over 20 years) who are committed to advancing health equity. This cohort – EI’s seventh – brings the total number of Fellows to 157. We expect that these mid-career professionals will draw on their EI learning, skill building, bonding, and networking to enhance their work on primary health services, rare diseases, natural resource management, social inclusion, economic growth, preventing gender-based violence, outreach to marginalized communities, and other important issues.

March 8, 2023

Celebrating International Women’s Day

On International Women’s Day, my colleagues and I celebrate the many contributions that women make in support of the mission of the China Medical Board. Their commitment to advancing health, equity, and the quality of care is evident in every area of CMB’s work in China, Southeast Asia, and globally. It is especially rewarding to see the number of young women professionals who are engaged in these efforts, including those who are our Clinical Education Fellows, Global Health Leadership Development Fellows, principal investigators of Open Competition grants, and Equity Initiative Fellows. What a source of inspiration they are!

March 6, 2023

Learning the Craft of Organizing

At the Equity Initiative’s Community Organizing Workshop, facilitators from the Leading Change Network shared their definition of organizing: “Organizing is finding leadership that enables people to turn the resources they have into the power they need to make the change they want.” That definition gave the 25 Fellows participating in the workshop, held January 30 – February 1 in Chiang Rai, Thailand, a fresh perspective on ways to mobilize people to take action to advance health equity.

February 20, 2023

Honoring Roger Glass’s Leadership of the Fogarty International Center

CMB President-Designate Roger I. Glass was honored on February 7 for his remarkable tenure as the longest-serving director of the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health. His leadership and contributions to the field of global health were recognized by Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, other NIH leaders, Fogarty Advisory Board members, grantees, and other colleagues.

February 20, 2023

2023 Annual Forum: Strengthening the EI Equity Community

The Equity Initiative’s Annual Forum, held February 1-4 in Chiang Rai, Thailand, was an opportunity for Fellows to exchange ideas across cohorts and to hear from leaders with deep experience in global health, international collaboration, and mobilizing resources for health equity. This was the first in-person Annual Forum held since February 2020, and the Equity Initiative’s Equity Community was well-represented with more than 80 Fellows, and over 100 participants overall.

February 7, 2023

Bringing Everyone Forward: International Day of Women & Girls in Science

The United Nations has designated February 11 as the International Day of Women & Girls in Science, a day to recognize the expertise that women professionals bring to a wide array of scientific fields, to encourage talented young women to pursue scientific careers, and to engage girls in STEM studies at a young age. To commemorate this year’s International Day of Women & Girls in Science, the UN has chosen the theme of “Bringing Everyone Forward,” exactly the right call to action for the times we live in.

January 30, 2023

A Journey through the Equity Initiative

The Equity Initiative was launched in 2016 with an ambitious, long-term goal: to promote health equity in Southeast Asia, particularly among the most vulnerable and marginalized people. Achieving that goal requires a network of leaders who have the knowledge, insights, and skills to advance equity principles and practices. Our new publication, Transformative Leadership for Health Equity: A Journey through the Equity Initiative(2016-2022) shares program highlights and impacts from EI’s first six cohorts of Fellows. Click here to read the publication.

January 21, 2023

Happy Year of the Rabbit

Happy Lunar New Year of the Rabbit to our CMB friends and colleagues!

As we welcome the lunar new year, we extend our best wishes to all of you in Chinese—yù tù yíng chūn
(玉兔迎春)—which is to say, “The Jade Rabbit welcomes the spring.” The rabbit symbolizes longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture, which are fitting sentiments for 2023. We mark the beginning of this new year filled with hope that, as colleagues and friends, we can continue to work toward strengthening the systems that improve the health and well-being of people throughout the world.