UTSA, Universitas Sebelas Maret partner to bolster public health research initiatives

NOVEMBER 30, 2021 — UTSA and Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) today announced they have signed Agreements of Cooperation and Affiliation that will promote the teaching and research activities of the institutions, and deepen the understanding of the economic, cultural and social issues of each institution.

The agreements emphasize the shared goal of strengthening academic research and exchanging information between nations, which is increasingly important as the world continues to battle global health challenges.

Among the possible activities supported through the executed agreements are organizing symposia, conferences, courses and meetings on pressing research issues both within and beyond the field of public health. The two institutions also aim to exchange undergraduate and graduate students for periods of study or research, offering important global perspectives that might otherwise not exist without collaboration.  

“We are very excited to provide UTSA students the opportunity to learn from our Indonesian colleagues about global public health issues.”

“We are very excited to provide UTSA students the opportunity to learn from our Indonesian colleagues about global public health issues,” said Lynne Cossman, dean of the College for Health, Community and Policy (HCaP). “In fact, our faculty are already collaborating with some Indonesian colleagues, providing webinars. We hope this formal agreement will lead to more research and teaching opportunities and look forward to working with our international colleagues.”

UTSA is a leading public research institution that is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery. Access to participation in university research is an important part of an excellent education, and UTSA plays a distinctive role among research universities in its commitment to undergraduate research.

Coordinated through its Office of Global Initiatives, UTSA has international academic agreements with more than 90 schools around the world, located in 27 countries. UNS is UTSA’s first international partner in the Republic of Indonesia.

The university’s Department of Public Health employs faculty with expertise in community-based health, biostatistics, environmental science, health and public administration, epidemiology and health behavior. It also has four research labs, and many of their programs have been supported by external funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, the International Life Science Institute Research Foundation, the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas.

“This new collaborative agreement with UNS will accelerate research and teaching initiatives related to global health issues for both institutions and provide exciting new multicultural opportunities for students and faculty,” said Jeffrey Howard, associate professor of public health.

Complementing the university’s strengths is the mission of UNS to become a center of development for science, technology and arts at the international level. UNS offers 151 courses, ranging from diploma to doctoral. The school is equipped with certified laboratories and computer-managed and information-technology-based libraries.

Together, UTSA and UNS will focus on supporting collaborative research, education and addressing public health issues. Mutual activities between UTSA and UNS are already underway virtually, including a collaborative presentation on women’s health that was held in October, and the upcoming presentation scheduled for December 1 to coincide with World AIDS Day.