On October 27, 2018, the unveiling ceremony of the Joint Disaster Medical Research and Teaching Center, founded together by the Academy of Disaster Medicine at Tianjin University and Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, was held in Tianjin.

The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School has the world’s leading hospital management system with strengths in teaching, training and research. Moreover, it is the world leader in the field of disaster medicine.

Professor Hou Shike, Dean of the Academy of Disaster Medicine, is an expert in health emergency management in the National Health Commission and a chairman of the committee for the disaster medicine branch of the Chinese Medical Association. He founded the first and only Academy of Disaster Medicine in China, which has strong teaching resources, a solid research foundation and abundant practical experience. Additionally, he guided the team in carrying out work with respect to normalized textbook compilation, standard guide formulation, academic event organization, scientific method research, training education, and international communication and cooperation.

The founding of the Center will give the two sides a chance to complement one another in the field of discipline development, practical rescue experience, exchange and scientific research, and thus build a platform for cooperation in the development of disaster medicine.

Associate Professor Gregory Ciottone, Director for Medical Preparedness at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and consultant to the White House Medical Unit for the Obama and Trump administrations, Zhang Fengbao, Vice President of Tianjin University, and Professor Hou unveiled the plaque for the Disaster Medical Research and Teaching Center. Approximately one thousand professors and scholars in the field witnessed the historical moment.