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Academic Speeches for the Distinguished Research Award of National Science Council and the Ta-You Wu Memorial Award

A series of academic speeches for the Distinguished Research Award of National Science Council and the Ta-You Wu Memorial Award were conducted for the first time at the International Conference Hall of the Second Medical Science Building of Chung Gung University on the fourth day of October. Approximately 500 distinguished guests, faculty members, and students of CGU attended these speeches. Award winners, including Prof. Yu Hua of Kaohsiung Chung Gang Memorial Hospital, Prof. Shin-Ru Shih of the Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Sciences, and Associate Prof. Jui-Yang Lai of the Graduate Institute of Biochemical and Biomedical Engineering, shared with the audience their award winning research topics and research experiences.

Each year, a maximum of 70 academics nationwide are presented with the Distinguished Research Award of National Science Council. Among them, no more than 4 places are given to interdisciplinary researchers. 4 places at most are presented to university-industry liaison researchers. A maximum of 40 scholars countrywide receive the Ta-You Wu Memorial Award each year. Chang Gung University is very proud to see Prof. Hua and Prof. Shih win the 2012 Distinguished Research Award of National Science Council, and Associate Prof. Lai, who is a biomedical engineering specialist, win in the category of Biomedical Sciences of the 2012 Ta-You Wu Memorial Award. Such impressive results suggest that studies focusing on only one issue as well as interdisciplinary studies have their respective values.

The activity was hosted by Prof. Daniel Tsun-Yee Chiu, Dean of the Office of Research and Development. We also had the pleasure to invite Prof. Jan-Kan Chen, vice president of Chang Gung University, and Dr. Tzou-Yien Lin, political deputy minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare to deliver welcome speeches. Prof. Fu Chan Wei, academician of Academia Sinica, Prof. Chih-Wei Yang, dean of the College of Medicine, and Prof. Chao-Sung Lai, dean of the College of Engineering gave their introductory talks. The internationally well-known Discovery Channel also sent a team to film Prof. Fu Chan Wei’s research projects and record part of this activity. It is expected that Chang Gung University’s reputation will be reported widely through the Discovery Channel.

The Annual Academic Award Ceremony began with a lecture given by professor Hua, entitled "Oxidative Stress in Neurogenic Hypertension: Lessons that I have Learned". Professor Hua discussed how oxidative stress participates in the regulation of the pressure in the brain. They found that neurogenic pressure could be regulated by NOX and mitochondria, and which was associated with nNOS and iNOS levels in cells, especially in brain medulla nose ventral lateral nucleus (RVLM). Another experiment showed that oxidative stress was increased in mice fed with high fructose, which further led to higher brain pressure. They concluded an important way to maintain normal brain pressure by regulation of oxidative stress in the RVLM balance.

Professor Shih gave the second talk on "Confronting Ever-Changing Viruses". She studied the mechanisms of viral replication by using EV71 and influenza virus. By using the method of interaction between protein and RNA, her team successfully found FBP1/2 proteins regulated the replication of enterovirus. In addition, through proteomic technique, they found possible substrates of influenza viral proteins, 3C protease and 3D polymerase, and demonstrated their functions. This finding is a great breakthrough to provide mechanism on how enterovirus and influenza virus affecting their hosts.

Finally, Professor Lai talked on "Design and Development of Functional Biomaterials for Ocular Disease Treatment". They established biological materials to maintain cellular functions which make cells continue to grow in the defective cells, such as limbal stem cells, corneal ulcers and corneal endothelial cells. Wherein, in the case of glaucoma, they developed biological materials to promote cell degradation in order to reduce the generation of intraocular pressure. These biological materials have the potential in clinical applications.

The fact that our faculty members received these two distinguished awards attests to our solid research foundation and our impressive capacity to put research findings into practice, which in turn betters our society. All the award winners have set a perfect example for future researchers. In Chang Gung University, we have a number of research teams that are enthusiastic about research. This activity provided a platform for them to showcase their research findings, as well as offered an opportunity to learn from each other. Furthermore, a new possibility for future research and development is made possible through this activity, too.