SU/NU Global Health Knowledge Hub Official Launch

April 2025

The numerous challenges in global health, such as climate change and disease, transcend national boundaries, and no single university or research group can solve these alone. What’s needed is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach. Universities, therefore, should be global in outlook while deeply engaged with local communities. 

This was the overriding sentiment at the March launch of the Stellenbosch University/Northwestern University Global Health Knowledge Hub (SU/NU Hub) in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The launch of the Hub further strengthens the two-decade-long relationship between Stellenbosch University and Northwestern University. 

Havey Institute for Global Health represented at Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

The Hub unites academics, researchers, staff and students from both universities to broaden the scope of international collaborations in global health research, education and community engagement. 

Key areas of collaboration include global primary care; biomedical engineering; health professions education; infectious diseases and genomics; and climate, health and environmental engineering. 

The Hub was founded in 2024, building on a twenty-year partnership between the two universities. The location incorporates physical laboratory space and accommodations for students at each university. 

The launch included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Stellenbosch’s outgoing rector and vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers; incoming rector and vice-chancellor, Professor Deresh Ramjugernath; and Robert Murphy, MD, executive director of the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health. The networking conference between the two universities was held on March 17 and 18 at Stellenbosch University. The first day was held at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) and the second day at the Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) on the Tygerberg campus. A satellite meeting on innovative diagnostics for HIV and related conditions immediately followed. 

Lisa Hirschhorn, MD, MPH presenting at the SU/NU Hub in Stellenbosch, South Africa

More than forty Northwestern faculty, staff and students attended the event. Delegates from both universities remarked that the conference showed Northwestern’s deep commitment to its partnership with Stellenbosch.  

Learn more about the SU/NU Global Health Knowledge Hub on their website.

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