(January 17, 2023) The Trustees of China Medical Board announce the appointment of Roger I. Glass, MD, PhD as the next President of China Medical Board. Effective January 15, 2023, Dr. Glass will be President-designate, and he will assume the presidency on April 15, 2023. After this three-month transition period, Dr. Barbara J. Stoll, who has served as CMB President since January 1, 2021, will remain a Senior Advisor to CMB, working on programs related to medical education; maternal and child health; and leadership development, including women’s leadership, CMB Clinical Fellows, and the Equity Initiative.
About China Medical Board
The mission of China Medical Board is to advance health, equity, and the quality of care in China and Southeast Asia.Working in a spirit of collaboration at the forefront of strategic philanthropy, CMB strives to build capacity in an interdependent world that fosters innovation in professional education, policy research, and global health.
Launched in 1914 as the second major program of the Rockefeller Foundation, CMB was endowed in 1928 as an independent foundation incorporated in New York. CMB’s initial commitment was to establish and operate Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, which it carried out from 1914 through 1950. After withdrawal from the mainland of China in January 1951, CMB extended its capacity-building work across Asia – Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Since returning to the mainland of China in 1981 CMB has expanded support in medical education and research to more than a dozen medical universities in Southeast Asia – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
In 2008, CMB launched a fresh initiative to strengthen scientific excellence in “critical capacities” among Chinese and other Asian institutions to address the premier health challenges of the 21st century – equitable access to primary and preventive health services in market-driven economies, so that all can benefit from the advancement of knowledge.
This work aims to advance health equity and quality by strengthening capacity in health policies for health systems and transformative education to strengthen physicians, nurses, and public health professionals. In China, CMB collaborates with a consortium of leading hospitals to model graduate medical education. It also supports research, education, leadership development, and international collaboration in the fields of public health, nursing, global health, maternal and child health, and mental health. In Southeast Asia, CMB launched the Equity Initiative in 2016, supported by funds from CMB and The Atlantic Philanthropies, to promote leadership for health equity among cohorts of young professionals. It continues to collaborate with the Atlantic Institute and its six other programs in equity and social justice. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMB worked with partners in China, Southeast Asia, and the United States to provided needed equipment and PPE, to support research and training, and to sustain international exchange and collaboration.
In over a century of philanthropy, CMB has directed hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and technical support to medical institutions across East and Southeast Asia. With an endowment of more than $300 million, CMB deploys more than $10 million annually. CMB has its headquarters in the United States and field offices in Beijing, China and Bangkok, Thailand, with most of its staff based in Asia. Led by its President, CMB has developed a team-based approach to its professional support activities. Its Board of Trustees governs CMB’s organizational policies.
