Lu Cai, M.D., Ph.D., scientific director of the Kosair Children’s Hospital Research Institute (KCHRI), and Brad Keller, M.D., vice chair for research in the Department of Pediatrics, continue to expand research training programs and collaborative research agreements with multiple academic institutions in China.

In September 2013, Cai and Keller traveled to China to develop formal collaborative agreements which were signed early in 2014 to provide expanded support for pediatric clinician/investigators from China to receive research training in UofL laboratories. Basic research areas have included cardiovascular disease, cancer vaccines, diabetes, obesity, neurodevelopment and renal disease. Trainees who have returned to home institutes have been promoted and are playing several key roles in both clinical service and scientific research at their institutes. The research mentorship continues after these trainees return to China through shared publications and collaborative research projects.

In May 2014, Cai led a UofL team that included Gerard Rabalais, M.D., Jan Sullivan, M.D., and Kupper Wintergerst, M.D., that traveled to China for academic meetings and presentations at Yuying Children’s Hospital and 1^st Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Jiangxi Provincial Children’s Hospital in Nanchang, and Jilin University in Changchun.

In October 2015, Keller returned to China with Greg Barnes, M.D., Ph.D., Gil Liu, M.D., Nicholas Mellen, Ph.D., and Jun Cai, Ph.D. for academic meetings and presentations at Yuying Children’s Hospital, and the 1^st and 2^nd Affiliated Hospitals of Wenzhou Medical University, Jiangxi Provincial Children’s Hospital, and Jilin University.