On May 8, 2026, Professor Michael Millis, Vice Chair for Global Surgery at the University of Chicago, convened with Zening Ge and Xia Li, Executive and Associate Directors of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing, to finalize the agenda for the upcoming joint conference. The event, titled “Innovation in Medical Education, Science and Technology, and Talent Development,” is set to open with high-level remarks from PUMCH and University of Chicago leadership, followed by an MOU signing ceremony and the launch of a “Competence Consensus”. The morning plenary will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Vinny Arora, Dean of Medical Education, alongside a strategic introduction to the new PUMC/H Innovation Center.
Looking ahead to the formal conference on September 12, 2026, the program will transition into a series of specialized parallel sessions designed to address the full spectrum of modern medicine—from pedagogical innovations like near-peer teaching to cutting-edge clinical tracks in tumor immunology and hepatobiliary surgery. A strategic cornerstone of this agenda is the advancement of community-based healthcare and innovation scaling; this includes the ECHO China telementoring project, which empowers local providers through advanced videoconferencing, as well as high-level discussions led by Samir Mayekar on the capital and regulatory frameworks essential for translating local medical breakthroughs into global healthcare solutions.
This planning session has yielded significant progress in aligning the strategic goals of both institutions and refining the logistical roadmap for September. And the collaboration is expected to serve as a long-term catalyst for sustained academic synergy and a robust institutional partnership between PUMCH and the University of Chicago.
