Public Health in Practice

Dr. Laura McDougall, Dean, School of Public Health, speaks at the China-Canada Friendship Universities Academic Exchange and Public Health Forum.

From June 27 to 30, Laura McDougall, dean of the University of Alberta's School of Public Health (SPH), joined a U of A delegation — led by Brenda Hemmelgarn, dean of the College of Health Sciences — for the 2026 China-Canada Friendship Universities Academic Exchange, hosted by Wenzhou Medical University (WMU). The four-day series of events marked the sixth year of collaboration between the two institutions and brought together leaders from across the U of A's health science faculties, including nursing, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, rehabilitation medicine, public health, and medicine and dentistry, alongside their WMU counterparts.

Within this broader exchange, Dean McDougall and Scott Phillips, SPH faculty general manager, took part in a series of public health-focused activities, engaging with WMU's School of Public Health on shared priorities in education, research and community practice.

Academic exchange and program discussions

At the fourth WMU China-Canada Medical Education Academic Conference on June 28, Dean McDougall and Xiaodong Liu, dean of WMU's School of Public Health, presented on developments in their respective public health programs, sparking discussion on opportunities for closer collaboration in public health education between the two schools.

That afternoon, Dean McDougall and Phillips joined WMU public health leaders for a dedicated exchange session, part of a broader slate of institutional meetings held alongside the joint management committee discussions for the WMU-U of A collaboration.

On June 29, at the China-Canada Friendship Universities Academic Exchange and Public Health Forum, Dean McDougall shared perspectives on Canada's public health system and approaches to workforce training, while Phillips spoke on global intellectual property and clinical research standards in pharmaceutical innovation. The forum also featured presentations from Zhejiang University and China Medical University on patient-reported outcomes and digital health management, with a Q&A session exploring differences in public health education and research collaboration between the two countries.

Community health and disease control in practice

Immediately following the forum, the delegation visited the Wenzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, where they learned about the city's approach to infectious and chronic disease surveillance and control, and how disease monitoring data is shared and coordinated across the local public health system.

The next morning, Dean McDougall visited the Chashan Community Health Service Center, gaining a close-up view of public health and primary care delivery at the community level — including chronic disease management, the basic public health service package offered to residents, infant and childhood vaccination programs and how tiered referral and community-based screening work in practice.

Together, the two visits gave the delegation a closer look at community-level public health delivery in China, from disease surveillance to frontline public health and primary care — offering points of comparison and shared learning that will help inform training for public health professionals working across different health systems.

Dean McDougall also toured WMU's university history museum and its affiliated Eye Hospital, noting the institution's achievements in myopia prevention and vision health as a distinctive strength within WMU's broader public health work.

Looking ahead

The visit builds on six years of partnership between the U of A and WMU through the Alberta Institute at WMU. It also supports the launch of the new joint Master of Public Health program — scheduled to begin this fall — marking an exciting new chapter in the partnership. SPH looks forward to further expanding collaboration with WMU, drawing on shared learning around the community and public health systems to strengthen education, research and training that prepares future public health leaders to work across diverse global health contexts.