The NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 31 October 2011, fostering a partnership anchored on research and education in areas of infectious disease control, health systems, and chronic diseases with an Asian focus.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Professor Chia Kee Seng and Vice Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Meidicine, Professor Anne Mills. Witnessing the signing ceremony were the UK’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Dr Vince Cable, Minister of State for Health, Dr Amy Khor and Chief Executive of the National University Health System, Associate Professor Benjamin Ong.
Sharing the two institutions’ collaborative plans in the next few years, Prof Chia said that the Schools will embark on two key projects – the Population Health Metrics and Analytics (PHMA) project and the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree.
“The first collaboration, the PHMA, leverages cutting-edge technology to bring together researchers and practitioners from both schools and multiple disciplines to integrate the disparate areas of public health research and making it relevant and accessible to practitioners like policy makers by generating usable real-world projections. In our MPH collaboration, we will draw upon each other’s experience and expertise in developing our graduates to work towards improving the health of populations,” explained Prof Chia.
On this collaboration, Prof Mills said, “The creation of this partnership is a unique opportunity to create a new regional hub for public health research, training and innovation which draws on the collective strengths of the specialist research-led higher education institution in global and public health and a leading global university centred in Asia.”