 The event is attended by the McDonnell Scholars, university presidents, faculty and graduate students from partner institutions, and it features speakers from academia, business and government.The inaugural symposium was held in May 2007 at Washington University in St. Louis and helped launch collaborative research activities with the partner universities in the areas of energy, the environment and sustainability.The 7th McDonnell Academy International Symposium was co-hosted with Tsinghua University in Beijing in October 2018 and focused on health and aging, energy and the environment, and agriculture, food and water.