Training in environmental health research for action: the Shanghai-California Environmental Health Training Program

The Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention (SCDC) was created in 1998; in 2001, with support from Fogarty International Center, the intergovernmental Shanghai-California Environmental Health Training Program was formed. Providing U.S.-based training to SCDC managers allows them to return to Shanghai and share their knowledge. Indexing Chinese journals will enable more exchange of information and will support improvements in Chinese scholarship. Increased international contact will result in greater trust and more rapid warnings to international colleagues, with resultant faster responses to emerging public health threats. Building research capacity in SCDC will allow for more rapid translation of results to policy. The progress of the Program toward establishing a regional (Shanghai) biological specimen bank is an example of building institutional capacity to enhance research that can serve as a lasting foundation for public health research and policy decisions in both Shanghai and China.