Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Health and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have joined hands to foster health security experts in developing countries.

The graduate school signed a contract with KOICA last Thursday to run a master's degree program in global health and security and health science, officials at Yonsei said.

It will select 60 trainee candidates from 70 developing countries in the field of health security for five years starting from September.

Professor Seo Won-suk of the International Health Department will take the lead in running the five-semester master’s degree course with the focus on preventing, detecting and coping with global health security issues, the officials said.

KOICA will provide 2.5 billion won ($2.18 million) for the smooth progress of the program.

The graduate school will provide educational facilities, including lecture rooms, computer labs, and library as well as living convenience such as dormitories. In addition to lectures and experiments, the school will also guide the trainees in thesis writing and manage their overall academic performances, they said

To help improve the applicability of the knowledge learned in the master's degree course after returning to work, it will provide trainees with opportunities to conduct research and experiments in infection epidemiology and vaccine research, by linking them to vaccine research institutions.

"Through this training course, we plan to teach infectious disease management in detailed areas and support the development of competency required for building health security,” said Professor Roh Jae-hoon, dean of the graduate school. “In this way, we will foster leaders in developing countries capable of improving disease prevention and infectious disease management in developing countries.”

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