CGU News Center

Chang Gung University (CGU) welcomed the delegation from Western Sydney University (WSU), led by the Vice-Chancellor and President Barney Glover AO, on Friday, October 21, 2022. CGU President Ming-Je Tang and Vice-Chancellor Glover marked the occasion by signing international exchange MOU between the two universities, and discussed the details of global collaborations and student exchange programs on Chinese Medicine, Nursing, Sports Science, and MBA, with 22 CGU faculty members from various research areas participated in the meeting and discussion. The WSU delegation was the first international delegation invited by the Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Australia, to visit Taiwan after the pandemic border entry regulations to Taiwan had been alleviated in mid-October, and the signing ceremony between CGU and WSU was also witnessed by the MOE representatives. Chang Gung University President, Professor Ming-Je Tang (left) and Western Sydney University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Barney Glover AO (right) after the signing of the MOU. According to the CGU Office of International Affairs in CGU, Western Sydney University has 13 schools, which matches all research areas of CGU. The rankings of both CGU and Western Sydney University are near 500 in the QS University World Rankings 2023. Western Sydney University has 36,033 students whereas Chang Gung University has a finer student-faculty ratio of 11:1. By signing the MOU, two universities will embark on research collaborations and student exchange as well as the faculty exchange programs. Group photograph of the Chang Gung University and the Western Sydney University representatives.   The Western Sydney University delegation also visited CGU Gallery of Chinese Traditional Medicine, accompanied by CGU Professor Chih-Wei Yang, Vice President and Dean of College of Medicine, Professor Thomas KF Lei, Dean for International Affairs, and Professor Hsien-Hong Yang, Chair of CGU School of Chinese Traditional Medicine. The WSU delegates experience the AR acupuncture and had an impressive tour in the Gallery. Chang Gung University has made new global partnerships in 2022, including the Sorbonne University in France, Indian Institutes of Technology, University of New York in Prague, University of Malaya in Malaysia, Thammasat University in Thailand, Chiang Mai University in Thailand, and the latest partnership is with the Western Sydney University. Western Sydney University delegation visited CGU Gallery of Traditional Chinese Medicine, with Chang Gung University representatives.

FROM: GASE "Dr. Jordana Bell from the KCL (on the left) and Dr. Pei-Chien Tsai from the CGU (on the right)."   King's College London (KCL), the UK's top-ranked university with a groundbreaking track record in analytical biology, is collaborating with Chang Gung University (CGU) on an epigenomic project funded by a MOST-BBSRC International Partnership Awards. Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, are an area of active research. It plays a key role in human development and disease, and is thought to regulate gene expression to influence phenotypic changes. The goal of this project is to apply newly developed machine learning models to identify regulatory genomic and epigenomic signatures of diet and lifestyle metabolic disease risk factors in Taiwanese and UK cohorts. This research collaboration brings together international scientists to analyze multi-omics data from the Taiwan Biobank and European cohorts, including TwinsUK, and also enhances the analysis of data generated within the JPI HDHL DIMENSION consortium, which examines the regulatory genomic signatures of diet-induced cardiometabolic health in European cohorts. In addition, one of the highlights of the collaboration is to train young career researchers and build their international network. CGU is one of the leading research universities in Taiwan, conducting international collaborative research around the world. Dr. Jordana Bell and Dr. Pei-Chien Tsai are long-time research collaborators who now form a new multidisciplinary research team to explore new and topical questions about how the molecular signatures of diet and lifestyle affect human health. This project builds on previous collaborations with leading experts in human epigenomics, including aging (Prof. Steve Horvath, UCLA) and environmental epigenomics (Prof. Andrea Baccarelli, Columbia University). The KCL group has extensive longitudinal clinical data and experimental results, as well as a strong track record of quantifying dietary intake and lifestyle factors. The CGU group has the analytical skills to perform machine learning and supervised modeling with unique lifestyle profiles such as betel quid use and access to samples from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, the largest medical institution in Taiwan. The two teams will take advantage of this excellent collaborative opportunity to leverage their expertise, combine international large-scale datasets, and provide capacity building through young career researcher training. Their strengths and upcoming publications will expand our existing knowledge in this area.   ''The study design of this international collaborative project between CGU and KCL, funded by MOST-BBSRC.''  

From: PTS News This is P. corylifolia, a Chinese traditional medicine ingredient. It contains corylin, which a research team from Chang Gung University has confirmed has life prolonging properties. An international periodical has affirmed the results, raising the profile of Chinese medicine. The team has also filed for patents....more

FROM：Taipei Times Chinese researchers have found the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that is at the center of a growing epidemic in the feces and anus tissue samples of infected patients, which could suggest another way the virus is being transmitted. A study by Wuhan University Renmin Hospital and the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that nucleic acid tests of those samples came back positive for 2019-nCoV, online news services run by the Chinese News Service reported yesterday. The finding suggested the virus could possibly be spread through “feces-to-mouth” transmission, in addition to transmission through droplets or direct physical contact, the Chinese News Service report said, citing the study’s results presented at a news briefing in Shenzhen on Saturday. Chang Ko (張科), head of the infection control division of Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, yesterday said that the Chinese finding was not surprising, given that US researchers had already found 2019-nCoV residue in feces. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Friday said a stool sample taken from the first person confirmed in the US to have the coronavirus tested positive for the virus, Chang said. Shih Shin-ru (施信如), head of the Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections at Chang Gung University, said that the new findings suggest preventing the spread of the virus will be more challenging, because there is another way it can be transmitted. Local experts are advising the public to flush toilets with the lids down and to wash their hands thoroughly after going to the bathroom. Hwang Kao-pin (黃高彬), director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at China Medical University in Taichung, said it was not uncommon to find viruses in stool. However, the fecal transmission path could pose a threat, because if 2019-nCoV-infected stool is splashed by water out of a toilet, the virus it carries could live for two to three hours in the air and up to five days on the surface of an object, Hwang said. To reduce the risk of infection, toilets should be disinfected with alcohol before they are used and flushed with their lids down, in addition to washing hands with soap after going to the toilet, Hwang added.