Nazarbayev University (NU) and the GX Foundation, an international non-profit organization based in Hong Kong providing medical and public health humanitarian assistance across Belt and Road countries, are strengthening their collaboration following high-level engagements on the sidelines of the Times Higher Education Asia Universities Summit 2026, hosted by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
Strengthening this partnership, President Waqar Ahmad delivered a keynote address at the GX Foundation headquarters in Hong Kong, highlighting the evolving role of universities in global health systems and humanitarian response.
“It is within this strategic context that Nazarbayev University, alongside the University Medical Center, operates as the premier academic and clinical hub of Kazakhstan’s first integrated academic health system. We are deeply aligned with the GX Foundation’s core interest areas. We are actively engineering localized medical solutions that possess immense global applicability across four critical domains”, President Ahmad said.
On the sidelines of the THE Asia Universities Summit, NU further advanced its engagement with the GX Foundation, building on a Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2025 at Nazarbayev University in Astana. The agreement established cooperation in professional exchanges, joint academic research, seminars, training programs, and opportunities for student internships and employment. It also laid the groundwork for long-term collaboration in addressing global health challenges through interdisciplinary approaches.
NU outlined three key areas of collaboration with the GX Foundation.
First, in targeted medical interventions, NU highlighted the development of the ALEM (Astana Life Ex-situ Machine), an AI-powered normothermic machine perfusion system created at the UMC Heart Center under the leadership of Professor Yuriy Pya. The system extends donor heart viability beyond 24 hours, enables physiological organ preservation, and reduces geographic constraints in transplantation, with ongoing efforts toward commercialization in Astana.
Second, in public health and disease control, NU emphasized its research on multi-drug resistant tuberculosis in Central Asia, where high prevalence of resistant strains and diagnostic limitations underscore the urgent need for advanced molecular and point-of-care solutions, aligning with GX Foundation’s experience in large-scale infectious disease response.
Third, in cultivating humanitarian talent, NU highlighted its international academic programs, including joint degrees with partner institutions in Hong Kong, designed to train multilingual graduates prepared for global health leadership. These initiatives complement GX Foundation’s humanitarian talent development programs and support the creation of skilled professionals for cross-border health governance and deployment.
Both institutions emphasized that the partnership reflects a shared vision of integrating academic excellence, medical innovation, and humanitarian action to address urgent global health challenges and strengthen resilient health systems worldwide.
The three-day summit will also include the presentation of the THE Asia University Rankings 2026 and the THE Awards Asia 2026, which recognizes outstanding practices in academic leadership across the region.
