SHANGHAI –- The University of Pennsylvania and Shanghai Jiao Tong University today announced an agreement to expand and enhance their ongoing academic and research collaborations, including identifying student and faculty exchanges, development of plans for research collaboration in regenerative medicine, formation of a joint Center of Excellence in Medical Imaging and exploring a jointly sponsored conference on International Financial Market Regulation.

“It is an honor to be here today with the secretary of the party committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Madame Ma, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University President Zhang Jie as we announce a deepening collaboration between our two great institutions,” Penn President Amy Gutmann said. “For many years, our two universities have enjoyed a warm and productive relationship, and it gives me enormous pleasure to extend this collaboration into new and exciting areas of academic and research endeavor.”

Thomas Robertson, dean of Penn’s Wharton School, said, “The Wharton School has enjoyed an especially close and fruitful relationship with SJTU’s Antai College of Management, going back 30 years, and we are eager to explore possible new initiatives with our esteemed colleagues.”

The agreement signed today by Gutmann and Zhang includes:

• Exploring a jointly sponsored conference on international financial market regulation with Penn’s Wharton and Law schools and their counterparts at SJTU.

• Development of plans for a research collaboration in regenerative medicine with Penn’s John Gearhart, a nationally renowned researcher in the field of stem cell research.

* Formation of a joint Center of Excellence in Medical Imaging between Penn’s School of Medicine and SJTU’s School of Medicine, as well as Ph.D. graduate exchange programs in the biomedical sciences. Discussions are also underway for the creation of a joint immunology institute, involving key faculty at each institution.

• Identification of student and faculty exchanges and collaborative research opportunities between Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing and Graduate School of Education and SJTU.

Previous collaborations between Penn and SJTU have included faculty exchanges, joint sponsorship of executive-education programs and training of doctoral students. Gutmann also received an honorary professorship from SJTU during her visit.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University, founded in 1896, is one of the oldest universities in China. It has 20 academic schools on six campuses, enrolling 38,000 full-time students pursuing undergraduate, master and doctoral degrees.

The University of Pennsylvania is an Ivy League institution with a distinctive past. Founded in the 18th century by Benjamin Franklin, Penn has a longstanding reputation for excellence in graduate and professional education, with a number of its 12 schools ranked at or near the top in their fields. The University is located in Philadelphia on an attractive urban campus that serves a diverse, 20,000-member student body from around the nation and the world.