Duke Kunshan University (DKU) has named Dr. Fujie Xu, a veteran public health researcher with nearly three decades of experience, as the new co-director of its global health program, effective January 2025.
Xu will work with Dr. Shenglan Tang to advance DKU’s global health program, guiding its academic and research initiatives. Together, they aim to position DKU as a global leader in the field. Xu will also teach undergraduate and graduate courses on global health.
Xu has held key roles at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gilead Sciences, and Zhejiang University. In May 2020, she joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s China Country Office as deputy director for health innovation and partnerships, where she advanced the development of vaccines, diagnostics and antimicrobials for infectious diseases. Xu earned her medical degree from Peking Medical University (now the Peking University Health Science Center) and her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.
With extensive global health experience in the United States, China and around the world, Xu is dedicated to tackling infectious disease threats and championing the vision of “health for all” by mentoring the next generation of global health leaders.
Xu’s work will focus on health innovation and implementation, with key areas including:
· Advancing genomic sequencing technologies to track infectious disease transmission, detect emerging variants, and guide the development of vaccines and diagnostics; collaborating with Duke-NUS to expand these technologies across Asia (check the initiative) and accelerate the adoption of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in global health.
· Building evidence-based practices, developing health guidelines, and fostering partnerships with government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and philanthropic organizations to drive global health improvements.
DKU’s global health program, jointly established with the Duke Global Health Institute in 2013, began offering a Master of Science in Global Health in 2014. Funded by leading organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the program focuses on health systems and policy, population health and well-being, and health security and the environment. Recognized for its exceptional research in global health and related fields, DKU has ranked in the ESI Global top 1% in the Clinical Medicine category for six consecutive years since 2018.
