The Board of Trustees of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the Health Advisory Board, HAB of the Bloomberg School of Public Health of this American institution, held a meeting between 29 March and 3 April in Barcelona.

This meeting, the first they have held outside the US, focused much of its activity on UPF’s Ciutadella campus, which is home to the Johns Hopkins University-Pompeu Fabra University Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF Public Policy Center), a research centre in the field of public policies.

Vicenç Navarro, director of the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center, is most satisfied with this meeting: “It has been a remarkably positive meeting because it has shown the close collaboration that exists between these two universities, sponsoring research projects as well as training programmes”.

According to the full professor of Political and Social Sciences at UPF, this collaboration focuses on “analyzsing some of the most important problems that exist in the 21^st century, ranging from climate change and its impact on the well-being of citizens, to the financial and economic crisis and its consequences on health and quality of life, as well as the study of immigration in the world”.

An intense programme taking place on the Ciutadella campus

The programme of events of the American delegation, made up of some thirty people, included a welcome session, held on 31 March in the Albert Calsamiglia i Blancafort hall in the Roger de Llúria building, involving Jaume Casals, UPF rector, and Mike Klag, dean of the  Bloomberg School of Public Health, and at which Josep Ferrer, vice-rector for Internationalization of UPF and International Relations was present.

In their respective speeches, and after the screening of an institutional video on Pompeu Fabra University, Mike Klag and Jaume Casals showed their satisfaction at the close collaboration between the two institutions, especially through the JHU-UPF-Public Policy Center.

Following the event, the delegation took a guided tour around the Ciutadella campus, in which they visited several landmarks, such as the courtyards of the Roger de Llúria and Jaume I buildings, the Reflection Room and the Dipòsit de les Aigües building, among others.

Other activities in which they took part were different working meetings with students and researchers of the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center, which took place on 1 April at the headquarters of the Center, and outside the University, a meeting with former students (2 April, at the MNAC) and various cultural visits to the city.

The Board of Trustees, the oldest organ of the Johns Hopkins University, is its main instrument of governance. It has the fiduciary responsibility for the sustainable advancement of the mission and objectives of the Institution, through the respectful management of all of its resources for the common good and for future generations. The Board protects the integrity of the University, to ensure that it complies with the purposes for which it was created, and to preserve and increase its physical and financial assets.

The Health Advisory Board of the Bloomberg School of Public Health of the JHU was established in 1981 and is composed of alumni and members of corporations, foundations, private organizations, and people with specific interests in research, teaching and professional practice programmes. This body, in representation of the society, works together with the School to create new programmes, to support key initiatives, and offer advice on strategic issues.