On the warm summer evening of July 12, 2026, the PKU–Yale Global Health Economics Summer Institute 2026 opened at Peking University. Nearly 30 participants, selected from hundreds of applicants from universities in China and abroad, gathered at the PKU Science and Technology Park, along with scholars and invited guests from both Chinese and international backgrounds. The opening ceremony marked the beginning of the Summer Institute’s academic program, themed “AI for Planetary Health.”
Co-organized by Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development (PKU GHD) and Yale Center Beijing, the Summer Institute has been held annually for four consecutive years since its launch in 2023. It has become an important platform for collaboration between Peking University and Yale University in the field of global health.
The opening ceremony brought together representatives of the host and co-organizing institutions, including Dr. Gordon G. Liu, BOYA Distinguished Professor and Dean of the PKU GHD; Dr. Xi Chen, Associate Professor of Yale University; Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, Distinguished Chair Professor of Planetary Health of PKU GHD; Dr. Haibin Zhang, BOYA Distinguished Professor and Deputy Dean of PKU GHD; Dr. Cheng Huang, Professor and Assistant Dean of PKU GHD; and Mr. Teng Wen, Deputy Director of Yale Center Beijing. Instructors and representatives of partner organizations and industry also attended the event alongside Summer Institute participants and volunteers.
The ceremony was hosted by Assistant Professor Yuhang Pan of PKU GHD. He introduced the background and theme of this year’s Summer Institute and extended a warm welcome to all participants and guests.
Group photo at the opening ceremony
As the PKU Co-Chair of the Summer Institute, Professor Gordon G. Liu delivered the opening remarks. He noted that the successful organization of the program had been made possible by the support of many partners. On behalf of the Institute, he expressed his sincere appreciation to Yale Center Beijing, the Cyrus Tang Foundation, and other partner organizations. Professor Liu reviewed the development of PKU GHD since its establishment in 2020, highlighting its progress in global health research, education, and talent development. Within only a few years, the Institute has established a multidisciplinary academic framework covering global health economics, climate change and health, pharmacoeconomics, and other areas, building a strong research team with growing international roles. He also highlighted the Planetary Health Axis System (PHAS), which was developed by the Institute’s research team over the past two years. The system marks a significant step in shifting global health research from reactive responses toward proactive monitoring and early warning.
Toward the end of his remarks, Professor Liu turned his attention to the young participants. He noted that modern economic growth faces unprecedented sustainability challenges. Conditions essential to humanity, including climate stability, biodiversity, and freshwater availability, are moving ever closer to planetary boundaries. He emphasized that the generation represented by the students in the audience will be responsible for identifying, implementing, and ultimately leading the solutions. “The responsibility for addressing global challenges is now falling on the shoulders of the younger generation,” he said. “I hope you will take this Summer Institute as a starting point and use knowledge, action, and collaboration to create new possibilities for planetary health.”
Dean Gordon G. Liu of Peking University
Professor Xi Chen, the U.S. Co-Chair of the Summer Institute, began his remarks by reviewing the program’s development over the past four years. From its first session to its emergence as an established program, the Summer Institute has reflected the sustained commitment of Peking University and Yale University to global health. It has also witnessed many students beginning their academic journeys and moving on to broader academic platforms.
Turning to the rapidly developing field of artificial intelligence, Professor Chen noted that AI has evolved from relatively simple chat tools into the era of intelligent agents. The speed of technological development and the expansion of its applications are reshaping industries on an unprecedented scale, and global health is no exception. Yet technological progress brings not only anticipation, but also uncertainty. With the constant stream of new tools and paradigms, how can researchers remain focused? How can they identify directions that are truly worth pursuing over the long term amid all the noise?
In response to these questions, Professor Chen shared three key ideas with the participants: belief, perseverance, and freedom from distraction. “We must first believe before we can see the future,” he explained. Applications of AI in health are still evolving rapidly. Rather than waiting until everything becomes certain, researchers should be willing to imagine new possibilities, take action, and learn through experimentation.
“Perseverance can turn a temporary setback into a positive outcome.” Professor Chen encouraged the students to recognize that difficulties and obstacles are inevitable in academic research, but important breakthroughs often come from making one more effort. Finally, he emphasized that stepping away from noise makes it possible to focus on long-term value. In an age of information overload and constant technological noise, researchers must block out distractions and remain focused, in order to identify questions that can truly stand the test of time.
Professor Xi Chen of Yale University
Mr. Teng Wen, Deputy Director of Yale Center Beijing, attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks on behalf of the Center. He noted that, since its launch, the PKU–Yale Global Health Economics Summer Institute has continued to broaden and deepen its annual themes. This development reflects both the evolution of the academic frontier and the program’s responsiveness to the major issues of the time. Over the past four years, the Summer Institute has brought together outstanding faculty members and students from around the world and has become an important platform for cross-cultural academic exchange. Mr. Wen particularly emphasized its combined interdisciplinary and cross-cultural value. He observed that bringing together young people from different academic fields and cultural backgrounds is itself a source of strength in addressing complex problems. Mr. Wen expressed high expectations for the participants. He hoped that, during the Summer Institute, they would not only gain advanced knowledge and research tools, but also meet like-minded peers and grow through intellectual exchange and teamwork. He concluded by expressing the hope that each participant would take the Summer Institute as a starting point and become an important contributor to future progress in global health.
Mr. Teng Wen, Deputy Director of Yale Center Beijing
Professor Bernhard Schwartländer delivered the opening lecture for this year’s Summer Institute, setting the intellectual tone for the academic program. His career reflects the broader development of global health over recent decades. Beginning as a physician in Germany, he went on to work in the WHO HIV/AIDS prevention and research, served as the World Health Organization Representative in China, and later held senior positions at WHO headquarters, including Assistant Director-General and spokesperson during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through these roles, he experienced some of the most challenging and transformative periods in modern global health.
During the lecture, Professor Schwartländer reflected on several critical stages in the global response to HIV/AIDS. When the epidemic first emerged, health systems were unprepared, diagnostic capacity was severely limited, medicines were prohibitively expensive, and patients in low-income regions faced profound inequalities in access to treatment. Rather than waiting for ideal conditions, he and his colleagues helped establish data-monitoring systems, promoted differential pricing for medicines, and advocated for wider access to treatment. These efforts ultimately enabled increasing numbers of patients who had previously been excluded from healthcare systems to receive accessible, life-saving care.
Professor Schwartländer emphasized that meaningful progress in global health is never achieved through a single factor. Scientific innovation provides the necessary tools, institutional reform removes barriers, financial support enables implementation, and a sustained commitment to equity determines how many people ultimately benefit. Turning from history to the present, he discussed today’s planetary health challenges, including worsening climate change and the increasing emergence of new infectious diseases. He noted that the challenges facing the younger generation are far more complex than those faced by previous generations, but that young people also have unprecedented opportunities to create change. He encouraged the participants to make effective use of new tools such as artificial intelligence without becoming constrained by them; to address major questions for which no ready-made answers exist; and to embrace interdisciplinary collaboration while remaining willing to challenge one another. Genuine breakthroughs, he observed, often emerge from the interaction of different perspectives.
Professor Schwartländer concluded with a message to the participants: “I hope that one day, when you look back, you will be able to tell the next generation with pride that our generation took determined action to solve problems shared by humanity, and that the value we created deserves a place in the stories told by those who come after us.”
Professor Bernhard Schwartländer of Peking University
Following the opening lecture, Assistant Professor Yuhang Pan of PKU GHD introduced the schedule and arrangements for the Summer Institute.
Assistant Professor Yuhang Pan of Peking University
At the conclusion of the opening ceremony, Professor Haibin Zhang, Deputy Dean of the Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development, delivered the closing remarks. He shared three expectations for the participants. First, he encouraged the participants to gain new knowledge. He noted that a defining feature of this year’s Summer Institute is the close integration of AI and global health. Rather than listening passively, participants should make active use of PKU GHD’s strengths in interdisciplinary research and approach complex health issues from perspectives that bring together economics, public health, data science, and environmental policy. He encouraged them to enter each class with questions in mind and to look for their own research directions at the boundaries of existing knowledge.
Second, he encouraged them to make new friends. Professor Zhang emphasized that the value of the Summer Institute extends far beyond the classroom. Bringing together talented young people from leading universities in China, the United States, and other parts of the world creates a rare academic community. He encouraged the participants to engage openly in discussions, group work, and informal exchanges, to share their ideas sincerely, and to expand their international academic networks through intellectual and cultural exchange.
Third, he encouraged them to develop new perspectives. While acquiring knowledge is important, he noted, it is even more important to develop a broader and more open way of understanding the world through cross-cultural and interdisciplinary academic experiences. He expressed the hope that participants would learn to view China from a global perspective while also viewing the world from a Chinese perspective, and in doing so develop independent and thoughtful judgment. Professor Zhang concluded by summarizing these three expectations in a simple message: he hoped the participants would improve depth in knowledge, find warmth in friendship, gain breadth in horizons, and leave the Summer Institute with meaningful experiences.
Professor Haibin Zhang of Peking University
