As China launches its Silk Belt and Road Initiative to expand trade and economic relations with 65 countries, China’s global health work will be expanded. The State Council has expressed its desire to “strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries, including providing health assistance and emergency medical aid to relevant countries.” However, China’s officials and academics lack experience and competencies in global health theory, governance, and practice. Few of China’s medical professionals have overseas residential work experience.

To help address this gap, CMB has awarded a grant to Tsinghua University to develop and network a new generation of global health leaders in China. The Silk Road Global Health Fellows program will train 40 fellows in two cohorts—including junior faculty, professionals, and government officials—to conduct global health fieldwork through 2-week immersion study visits in Southeast Asian or African countries. Tsinghua University will organize the program delivering orientation and concluding seminars, and organizing the overseas learning

CMB has developed experience in supporting the development of innovative young leaders through its Equity Initiative: Leadership Transformation for Health Equity, a 20-year fellowship program cosponsored with The Atlantic Philanthropies. The Silk Road Global Health Fellows program will draw on connections developed through The Equity Initiative, as well as the extensive professional relationships of the program’s principal investigator, Dr. Cheng Feng, a global health and development specialist at Tsinghua.