Updated
February 2001
Summary:
Intramural and extramural scientists supported by the National
Institutes of Health carry out a number of collaborative research
efforts with colleagues in East Asia and the Pacific. While
some activities take place under the auspices of bilateral programs,
the majority of collaborations are initiated by scientists to
meet their own research objectives more effectively than would
be possible without international cooperation. Through grants
to U.S. universities, the Fogarty International Center (FIC)
has been active in promoting collaboration throughout the region
in all areas of the biomedical and behavioral sciences with
special emphasis on the areas of HIV/AIDS, population and health,
environmental and occupational health, and emerging and re-emerging
infectious diseases. The National
Institutes of Health Web site provides information on grants
and supplements to support international research collaboration.
EAST ASIA
JAPAN
The primary
mode for biomedical and behavioral science cooperation between
the U.S. and Japan is scientist-to-scientist. For many years,
there have been a greater number of scientists in the NIH
Visiting Program from Japan than any other country. There
are also many Japanese postdoctoral scientists supported at
U.S. universities, medical schools and research centers with
funding through NIH grants to the principal investigators
who appoint these postdoctoral scientists.
U.S.-Japan
Science and Technology Agreement
The U.S.-
Japan Science and Technology (S&T) Agreement was signed
in 1988, renewed in 1993, and extended in June 1998 for 9
months. The S&T Agreement provides for the exchange of
information and collaboration in areas of mutual scientific
interest. The Director of the Fogarty International
Center serves as co-chair of the Life Science Liaison Group.
U.S.-Japan
Common Agenda for Cooperation in the Global Perspective
In July
of 1993 the U.S. and Japan launched the Common
Agenda for Cooperation in the Global Perspective. The
Common Agenda has been very successful in finding new ways
to share the resources of the two countries to address such
challenges as global health, overpopulation, environmental
degradation, and natural disasters. Cooperation in research
and training related to infectious and tropical diseases is
a focus for NIH, with its Japanese counterpart organizations,
under the Common Agenda.
U.S.-Japan
Cooperative Medical Science Program
The National
Institutes of Health cooperates with Japanese counterpart
organizations through a number of formal bilateral mechanisms,
including the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program
(CMSP), administered by the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since
1965. Under the CMSP, there are panels related to research
on tuberculosis and leprosy, cholera and other bacterial enteric
infections, AIDS, hepatitis, environmental mutagenesis and
carcinogenesis, malnutrition, parasitic diseases and viral
diseases, and Joint Immunology Boards.
Fellowship
Opportunities in Japan
The Japan Fellowship Programs provide opportunities for U.S. postdoctoral scientists who are in
the formative stage of their career to extend their research experience in Japanese laboratories.
Research applications for biomedical or behavioral sciences are accepted at the Fogarty
International Center (FIC), National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The eligibility requirements and
application procedures are different for each fellowship. The eligibility and application procedures should be reviewed before submitting an application.
Please visit the Fellowship
Opportunities in Japan webpage on this website for
information. E-mail requests for information can be
sent to JSPS@nih.gov.
Summer
Institute in Japan
To encourage young scientists from the United States to gain competence in the
Japanese language, become acquainted with their counterparts
in Japan, and gain experience doing research in Japanese laboratories,
the Fogarty International Center helps support the participation
of graduate students in the life sciences in the Summer Institute
in Japan and the Monbusho Summer Program. More information
on these programs, administered by the National
Science Foundation (NSF), is available directly from NSF.
Applications must be submitted by December 1 for research
visits the following summer.
CHINA
U.S.-China
Public Health Agreement
An agreement
between the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
and the Ministry of Public Health of the People's Republic
of China provides for cooperation in disease control and prevention,
public health protection, biomedical research, health services
and health policy research, and health administration and
finance. In the biomedical research area, NIH participates
in the exchange of scientists, the convening of joint seminars
and meetings, and the conduct of joint research projects.
Each organization undertaking cooperative activities and scientific
collaboration under this Health Protocol is responsible for
its own costs.
U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement
The 1991
Science and Technology Agreement between the United States
and China was extended in 1996 for five years. This agreement
provides intellectual property rights provisions to determine
the allocation of rights to any discoveries which may derive
from cooperation in scientific research and provides for an
annual review of major areas of scientific cooperation between
the United States and China.
NIH-Chinese Academy of Sciences Agreement
Since
1983, NIH has had an agreement with the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) for cooperation in the basic biomedical sciences.
The Fogarty International Center serves as Executive Agent
for the U.S. side and the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, CAS,
for the Chinese side.
SOUTH KOREA
The U.S.-Korea
Science and Technology (S&T) Agreement
The U.S.-Korea
Science and Technology (S&T) Agreement was signed in 1992
and Joint Committee Meetings are held yearly. The S&T
Agreement provides for the exchange of information and collaboration
in areas of mutual scientific interest. As an example of the
importance that the Koreans place on the role of science and
technology in their economy, the Korean Government has made
a commitment to increase greatly their scientific resources
in the next few years and the U.S. anticipates greater cooperation
with Korea since they were recently granted membership in
the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The most
active counterpart organization to the NIH in Korea is the
Korean Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) which also
supports joint research collaborations through the National
Science Foundation (NSF).
VIETNAM
Although
no formal cooperative agreements exist between the U.S. and
Vietnam, NIH supports a number of scientist-initiated collaborative
research efforts with Vietnamese partners. NIH organizations
carrying out direct collaboration projects with their counterparts
in Vietnam include the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the
National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National
Cancer Institute.
The National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) supports
two research contracts with the Vietnamese National Institute
of Health and Epidemiology (NIHE) to conduct vaccine trials
against cholera and typhoid. The National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute (NHLBI) has been actively cooperating with
the Blood Transfusion and Hematology center in Ho Chi Minh
City, and the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion
in Hanoi to conduct research in Vietnam on the high incidence
of a type of anemia rare in this country. By studying the
disease in Vietnam, scientists will be able to more readily
understand the cause of the disease. The National Cancer Institute
(NCI) is supporting a breast cancer research study in Vietnam
to look at the benefits of using a combination of surgery
and hormone therapy to prevent recurrence of the most common
form of cancer in women of northern Vietnam and the second
most common form in southern Vietnam.
THAILAND
NIH has
had a long-standing history of cooperation in biomedical research
with Thailand. One of the first awards for International Collaboration
in Infectious Disease Research awarded by the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) was
to the University of Illinois and Chiang Mai University in
1981 for work in leprosy. Since 1988, FIC has also invested
significant resources in the country through the AIDS International
Training and Research Program (AITRP). Thailand is now in
the planning stages of two phase III evaluations of AIDS vaccines,
one developed by Genentech and a second developed by Biocine.
Over the years, NIH has received a number of visitors from
Thailand, including Princess Chulabhorn, an organic chemist
and the director of the Chulabhorn Research Institute.
MONGOLIA
The Division
of International Relations of the Fogarty Center administers,
for the U.S. side, the U.S.-Mongolia Health Scientist Exchange
Program. This program promotes research cooperation between
U.S. and Mongolian biomedical scientists and helps initiate
research affiliations that show a promise of becoming long-term
and self-supporting. The program does not provide support
for formal academic, clinical, or research training, or for
the primary purpose of giving lectures or attending scientific
meetings. The sending side provides international airfare
and the receiving side pays for lodging, in-country travel
and living costs for the visiting scientist. U.S. Government
scientists are not eligible. Mongolian scientists may apply
to the Ministry of Health (Contact the Minister of Health,
Karl Marx Street 4, Ulaanbaatar 11 (Telephone 976-1-322-956;
Fax 976-21-05211-MINSANTE). U.S. scientists may obtain applications
forms and instructions from the U.S.-Mongolia Biomedical Research
Exchange Program, Division of International Relations, Fogarty
International Center, National Institutes of Health, Building
31, Room B2C11, 31 CENTER DRIVE MSC 2220, BETHESDA MD 20892-2220
(Telephone 301-496-4784; Fax 301-480-3414). There are no deadlines.
Both administering agencies must approve any awards.
THE PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
Although
no formal program of bilateral cooperation between the U.S.
and Australia exists in biomedical research, Australia is
consistently among the largest recipients of NIH awards. The
greatest amount of NIH-Australia activity is in the form of
research grants and contracts to Australian scientists, individually
or in collaboration with U.S.-based scientists. Cooperation
occurs in a wide range of areas including infectious diseases,
HIV/AIDS, child health, aging, dental research, drug abuse
research, and cancer.
NEW ZEALAND
The U.S.-New
Zealand Science and Technology (S&T) Agreement
The U.S.-New
Zealand Science and Technology (S&T) Agreement provides
a yearly forum for discussion of issues of mutual interest.
The NIH counterpart under the U.S.-New Zealand S&T Agreement
is the New
Zealand Health Research Council. The primary mode for
biomedical and behavioral science cooperation between the
U.S. and New Zealand is scientist-to-scientist. NIH supports
a number of grants and contracts to teams of U.S. and New
Zealand scientists to conduct collaborative research.
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