Professor Poppema also serves as an advisor to the establishment of the new medical school at Sunway University.

The partnership model has been recognised and researched by the UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, which produced a case study on it.

Additionally, Sunway University has a collaboration with Le Cordon Bleu, an international culinary training organisation.

The foundation was officially established as a registered charity in March 2010 from its predecessor Sunway Education Trust, set up in 1997.

All of the educational institutions that operate under the foundation are not-for-profit; surpluses are channelled towards scholarships and bursaries to students, as well as towards grants for research.