Jiao Tong, Yale set up joint center

Yale University president Peter Salovey is presented with an honorary doctorate by Zhang Jie, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University yesterday. — Zhang Suoqing

Yale University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University yesterday set up a joint center that will focus on human development and health issues.

The SJTU-Yale Joint Center will connect basic science to clinical medicine based on reports from 14 hospitals affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong.

"The joint center is a classic example of synergy," said Peter Salovey, President of Yale University, at the signing ceremony in Shanghai yesterday. "Both universities have strong bio-statistical expertise, which is complementary."

Salovey said such complementary work will help research. He said Yale tends to do more basic research in laboratory and on animals while SJTU tends to be more clinical with practices on human patients and actual delivery of health care.

"What comes out of the whole will be greater than what either university could do by itself," Salovey said.

Chen Guoqiang, chancellor of SJTU's School of Medicine, said the university had a rich clinical database.

Last year, the 14 hospitals received 26.47 million outpatients and 676,100 inpatients. They also conducted nearly half a million operations.

"With so many patients, our great concern and mission is how to improve our health system, skills and medicine," Chen said. "I believe the joint collaboration between Yale and SJTU will help in the development in medicine and health care."

Both the universities will exchange staff for research.

About six to 10 Yale University professors will visit Shanghai while the SJTU faculty will visit Yale for biostatistics studies, Salovey said yesterday.