The Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation (MMAAP Foundation), established in 2012 with the aim of improving world health by developing mutually beneficial partnerships between the U.S. and China, as well as greater Asia, welcomed its first Fellow in Dermatology. Dr. Meng Pan, who serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Dermatology at Shanghai Rujin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, was the recipient of the 2013 MMAAP Foundation Fellowship Award in Skin Disease. Dr. Pan began her one-year training in November 2013 in Dr. John R. Stanley\u2019s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Her research project is entitled \u201cAnti-Desmoglein B Cell Clones in Pemphigus Patients in Remission After Anti-CD20 Therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs research in skin disease advances in China, Chinese dermatologists are eager to connect with our international colleagues for exchanges of ideas and to form partnerships. I am certain my collaboration and relationships with my American colleagues will produce beneficial long-term results for the Chinese and U.S. medical communities,\u201d said Dr. Pan.<\/p>\n
About the Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation Commenting on the growth of the MMAAP Foundation, Mr. Milstein said: \u201cI am very pleased with the remarkable progress our foundation has made since its inception. We are in a unique position to bring together the best medical talents from Asia and the U.S. The results of such collaborations will not only advance global health, but will also strengthen friendships and relations between the two regions.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n The MMAAP Foundation currently offers funding opportunities in Geriatric Medicine (under the Irma and Paul Milstein Program for Senior Health), Dermatology and Hematology, in the form of Fellowship Awards and Research Project Awards, which aim to support medical researches that have the potential to affect healthcare in China. The Fellowship Awards sponsor promising investigators in clinical or basic research to receive one-year training in the U.S. at a distinguished partner institution. The Research Project Awards provide funding for research projects conducted in China with a U.S. partner institution. The MMAAP Foundation plans to expand its areas of support in the near future to include other medical disciplines, such as Translational Medicine. While the foundation currently focuses on mainland China, its funding opportunities would potentially be made available to researchers from other regions of Asia. <\/em><\/p>\n Applications for these awards are submitted by leading Chinese medical institutions and are evaluated through a strict two-step peer review process. An independent Chinese expert panel in each field selects a limited number of proposals, which are then reviewed by an independent panel in the U.S. Applications of the highest quality are selected for funding. For the awards in dermatology, the U.S. review panel consists of members of the Medical Advisory Committee at the American Skin Association. <\/em><\/p>\n
\nHoward P. Milstein, Founder and Chairman of the MMAAP Foundation, met with members of the then-Chinese Ministry of Health (currently the National Health and Family Planning Commission) in early 2011 to facilitate interactions between his medical philanthropic interests in the U.S. and leading Chinese institutions in clinical care and medical research. The idea for the foundation was conceived thereafter. In December 2011, the MMAAP Foundation framework was presented to Vice Minister Liu Qian, MD, of the Ministry of Health, who enthusiastically endorsed the plan and provided important advice.<\/em><\/p>\n