Tampa, FL (May 17, 2006) -- USF Health has forged a collaborative agreement with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) School of Medicine, the largest medical school in China, that will promote research, education and other scholarly activities between the two institutions.  

Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, vice president for USF Health and dean of the College of Medicine, and Guo-Tong Xu, MD, PhD, associate director for the SJTU Institute of Health Sciences, signed the agreement on May 5. 

The collaboration builds upon the USF Health International Program's global outreach. SJTU will be a key collaborator with the new Signature Program in Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases (SPAIID), said John Sinnott, MD, clinical director of the SPAIID and associate dean for International Affairs in the College of Medicine.

Dr. Xu heads a premier national research institute conducting both basic science and clinical research. He visited USF Health May 4 to 6, including stops at the USF Health/ Hillsborough Health Department's HIV Research Unit and the USF Infectious Diseases Unit at Tampa General Hospital. Dr. Xu also met with Abdul Rao, MD, DPhil, senior associate vice president for Research and Graduate Studies; Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, director of Basic Research for the SPAIID; Lynette Menezes, PhD, director of International Programs for Infectious Diseases; and numerous faculty in the Colleges of Medicine and Public Health.

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USF Health is the University of South Florida's enterprise of researchers, teachers and clinicians dedicated to improving the full continuum of health. Its core is the colleges of Public Health, Nursing and Medicine, including a School of Physical Therapy, as well as the healthcare delivered by its 450 physicians and more than 100 nurse practitioners. In partnership with its affiliated hospitals, USF Health's research funding last year was $134 million -- more than half of which came from federal sources. Last year, USF health clinicians cared for more than 31,000 patients and oversaw 396,000 outpatient visits.