UF Health Proton Therapy Institute takes steps to formalize agreement in China for patient treatment and clinical research

BEIJING, CHINA (January 12, 2018) -- On January 12, 2018, in Beijing, China, leaders with GlobalMD Network Corporation and the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, Jacksonville, Florida, signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to establish a Sino-American Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program. 

UF Health Proton Therapy Institute Executive Director Stuart Klein along with Tim Shi, MD, PhD, Chief Officer for GlobalMD, China Office, represented their respective organizations at the signing, held at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Automation Institute in Beijing. Following the signing, key Chinese opinion leaders and oncologists met with the group from Jacksonville to learn more about proton therapy for children who have cancer.

The initiative will formalize relationships between the Proton Therapy Institute and children’s hospitals across China to enhance and develop new treatments for children for life-threatening brain, skull-base and spinal tumors.

The Sino-American Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program will include collaboration in:

• Advanced training of physicians and nurses in pediatric neuro-oncologic and other pediatric health conditions
• Teleconsultation for pediatric patients in China referred through GlobalMD and the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute
• Provision of gold-standard treatment protocols for referred pediatric patients, including proton therapy, chemotherapy, neurosurgery and other treatments for these complex disorders
• Tele-monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes of post-cancer treatment patients once they return home
• Neuro-oncology research in China and Jacksonville

This program falls under the joint mission of the Sino-American Collaboration Project on Clinical and Translational Medicine, established in 2010.

UF Health Proton Therapy Institute’s Executive Director Stuart Klein said the program, when fully executed, will build on successful agreements with other countries, including the United Kingdom, Norway and the Canadian Provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

“Since opening in 2006, the Institute has seen patients from more than 30 countries, including China, and is the largest pediatric proton therapy program worldwide,” said Klein. “In the past two years since organizing a symposium on radiotherapy in China, the number of patients from China has grown to the point that we have added a staff person who helps Chinese families with communication, transportation and housing needs.”

About UF Health Proton Therapy Institute

UF Health Proton Therapy Institute is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization affiliated with the UF College of Medicine and the UF Health Cancer Center, a Florida Cancer Center of Excellence, dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art cancer treatment and setting new standards for treating and curing cancer. It is an accredited radiation oncology facility by the American College of Radiology. The cancer treatment facility houses both conventional radiation and proton therapy, and delivers proton therapy to 100 patients a day. For more information about the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, please visit www.floridaproton.org, or call toll-free 877-426-9790.