This strategic institutional partnership brings together the research capacity and expertise at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Ghent University to explore and test interdisciplinary responses to global challenges. This partnership builds on shared interests in research into cardiovascular, respiratory and neurocognitive disorders, and cultural histories of the senses and body. This partnership uses the complementary research forces in the two academic communities as a leverage to deliver a high-quality research program and provide sustainable and impactful scientific results.