As part of our international focus, AGA President John I. Allen, AGAF, recently traveled to China as part of an eight-member AGA delegation participating in educational events in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. While in Beijing, Dr. Allen and the AGA delegation met with a delegation from the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology (CSG), including CSG President Professor Yang Yunsheng. Dr. Allen and Professor Yang signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a special relationship between the two societies and identifying joint initiatives that will include an AGA presence at future CSG meetings in China, as well as other AGA/CSG education and training projects in both China and the U.S.
AGA
President Dr. John I. Allen meeting with Chinese Gastroenterological Society President Professor Professor Yang Yunsheng.
The delegation included AGA members John Chen, M.D, Ph.D.; William Chey, M.D.; Martin Freeman, M.D.; John Kao, M.D.; Chung Owyang, M.D.; James Scheiman, M.D.; and Field Willingham, M.D., MPH. They met with Xiujun Cai, M.D., president of the Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital (SRRSH), and leaders from the Zhejiang Digestive Diseases Societies while in Hangzhou. Dr. Allen and Dr. Cai signed a memorandum of understanding outlining potential collaborations between AGA and SRRSH, a teaching hospital founded as a joint effort with Loma Linda (Calif.) University and affiliated with the Zhejiang (China) University. In 2006, SRRSH was the first public hospital in China to receive accreditation from the Joint Commission International, the international arm of the Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations).
The trip also included an educational component. The AGA delegation presented lectures during the Gastroenterology International Frontier meeting held in Beijing as well as the first AGA Professional Conference in China, held in Hangzhou in conjunction with the 9th SRRSH International Academic Week and the 7th Zhejiang Digestive Disease Academic Conference. Dr. Allen also led a roundtable discussion in Shanghai on GI research with several AGA representatives and key opinion leaders from Taiwan and Korea. Funding for this trip was provided by Takeda China.
