Lai Weilin/Taipei News (Translated to English by H Chen) 2022-12-16
Strengthening national medical healthcare capacity through intelligent technology has become an important endeavor for governments and medical institutions in recent years. Taiwan ranks among the world’s leading groups in terms of semiconductor and medical technology, and NYCU is the cradle for cultivating professionals in these two fields. In order to create a high-quality educational environment and expand the international outlook of NYCU, a delegation of academic leaders and professors in medicine and engineering, led by President Lin Chi-Hung, had visited two well-known universities in the United States. In this visit, under the careful planning of Prof. Haydn Chen, Chief Strategy Officer of NYCU, President Lin and President Killeen of the University of Illinois (UI) System co-signed a letter of intent to cooperate in teaching, learning, research and development. Moreover, NYCU delegates had productive discussion with the faculty of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CICOM) in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). CICOM was established in 2015 as one of the first technology-oriented medical schools in the United States. A visit to the University of Missouri (MU) followed the UIUC visit for which plans to expand and deepen the already existing collaborations in teaching and research were strategized. CSO Chen pointed out that through exchanges with these two well-known universities, the NYCU’s medical education can be connected with the international community, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of professional talents.
Signed a letter of intent for cooperation NYCU and UIUC joined hands to cultivate medical talents in Taiwan and the United States
Chen said that NYCU has cultivated a large number of talents for the country over the years, with the rapid advancement of science and technology nowadays, the teaching method also needs to keep pace with the times, especially for higher education programs. Students need to have the knowledge and ability required by contemporary times, and can connect with international research institutions to expand their own horizons and contribute to the society.
The University of Illinois, which signed a letter of intent with NYCU, has three campuses, including Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield, among which the School of Engineering at UIUC ranks among the best in the United States. Medicine field has always had strong connection with science and technology, more so in the last decades with the advancement of semiconductor technology, materials, equipment, computer software, big data and artificial intelligence, etc. UIUC made a big stride in establishing the first technology-oriented medical school in the United States in 2015, partnered with the local Carle Foundation Hospital. The unique feature of this medical school lies in the design of the curriculum as most of the courses are co-taught by specialists in the two fields of medicine and technology, helping students to learn modern and future medicine from multiple perspectives.
Chen went on to say that UIUC and NYCU have similar vision and practices, both are higher education institutions with the characteristics of medical and engineering parallelism, and both universities are also pioneers of this practice in the country. UIUC is naturally a learning model for NYCU. In this visit, two universities set cooperation goals, including student exchange, research collaboration, clinical internship, etc. In research, the two universities identified three major projects as a start: heart failure, cancer and neuroscience. In addition, a professional research team for the big data analysis of medical care is to be considered. Chen said, Taiwan’s world-famous health insurance system, has accumulated a considerable database, if one can make good use of these data, it will definitely help the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Chen especially mentioned that the standard of this visit is quite high, in addition to the reception by the president and senior executives of the University of Illinois System, the delegates also met with Chancellor Jones of UIUC and signed agreement with Dean Bashir of Engineering. Signing of a letter of intent symbolizes the good will for future cooperation, in particular between the two Colleges of Medicine of NYCU and UIUC. During the visit, two universities identified contact window/liaison persons, discussed mutual visit schedule and frequent virtual/online retreats to continue the momentum of cooperation, aiming to lay solid foundation for the development of smart healthcare in the two countries.
Visit MU to enhance two-way communication and enhance the research collaboration of two universities
The team visited the University of Missouri (MU) by arrangement of Professor Huang Ziqiang of NYCU, accompanied by Director Huang Shichang of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Denver. The long-term cooperation between the center and the School of Medicine of NYCU has jointly cultivated a number of outstanding talents of physicians and scientists, and this visit is purposed to further strengthen and expand the cooperation. During the visit, representatives of the two universities introduced the current situation and research direction of their own departments, discussed and exchanged views on postgraduate exchange, the possibility of dual degrees and research topics.
During this visit, the NYCU team visited the School of Data Science and Information, School of Engineering, Institute of Pharmacophysiology and Physiology (MPP) and Institute of Biochemistry of MU. MU Professor Xu Qiren is not only keenly interested in this collaboration, but also hopes to attract NYCU medical students to the University of Missouri to conduct research and study in the MD program. He went on to propose bilateral researchers to strengthen mutual exchanges.
Two Schools of Medicine of both NYCU and MU have had a cooperative medical doctor training program since 2007, having resulted in a total of five doctoral degrees at the MU Institute of Pharmacology and Physiology and the Institute of Neuroscience. Moreover, the two Schools officially signed a MOU on teaching and research cooperation in 2019. Under this cooperation framework, the Institute of Pharmacology of NYCU has selected graduate students to MU Biochemistry Institute for one year study since 2020, which benefited both Schools and more so the exchanged students themselves.
Through this visit, the Department of Medicine and the Institute of Pharmacology of NYCU also reached a specific agreement with the MU Institute of Pharmacophysiology and Institute of Biochemistry to expand the establishment of cooperation platforms to include short-term exchange of research between students and postdoctoral researchers, exchange of lectures by teachers, and joint supervision/advising of doctoral degree students.
National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University has cultivated a large number of professionals for the country over the years in both engineering and medicine; NYCU aims to taking the lead in the development of smart medicine in Taiwan. The cooperation initiated by this visit with two well-known universities in the United States will undoubtedly optimized the teaching and research environment so to accelerate the implementation of the smart medical vision through the complementary strengths of three Universities.