CCU’S engagement and innovation of global business

In response to globalization and internationalization, all countries are facing the challenge of integrating their own talents with the international community. Since English is currently the most important language for international communication, the Taiwanese government aims to enhance the English language skills of the people in order to increase competitiveness globally, promote the bilingual national policy to cultivate more local bilingual talents, and expand the international communication ability and the global vision of talents from Taiwan to become highly competitive throughout the industry.

In order to enhance the advantages of students under this wave of internationalization and response to government policies, the Chinese Culture University (hereinafter referred to as CCU) has established a benchmarking of bilingual college that combines professional areas of English foreign affairs to offer opportunities to apply English for students, which strengthens students’ motivation to learn English and deepens their international mobility. In addition, by strengthening the recruitment of English-foreign language speaking, teaching and research talents, the school will improve the English teaching, curriculum, research & counseling, and assist in the training of teaching English, as well as establish surroundings for all English professional fields.

The Global Business Program in CCU offers a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, available through our 5-year BA & MA. The curriculum combines the core competencies and professional subjects provided by College of Business (including international business administration, international finance, economics, accounting, statistics, database management, banking management, marketing, etc.) in order to provide our students with comprehensive and systematic knowledge related to global business. To construct an all-English learning environment and enhance the students’ English proficiency, all courses with the program are taught solely in English, helping the local students enhance English proficiency without paying high expenses to study abroad.

Additionally, we are honored to present our industry-academia collaboration programs with international enterprises, which provide abundant opportunities, internships, and scholarships to our students. Dual-degree programs and 5-year master programs are also available through our strategic alliance with several universities from U.S., U.K., France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, etc. An opportunity to study with foreign students allows them to experience diverse cultures. Furthermore, we make great efforts to recruitment of domestic and foreign students, contact with international students, cultivate international outlook and world outlook, so that students can be in line with international standards and enhance international competitiveness as soon as possible.

 

Fight against the infodemic

One of the biggest challenges in the post-pandemic era is to fight against the “infodemic” either it is accompanying the COVID-19 or not. As defined, an “infodemic” is too much (dis)information including fake news and vague mixture of falsehood and truth in digital and physical environments. It is an issue for all people in the globe. Taiwan is excellent in its COVID-19 containment strategies. The Department of Philosophy in Chinese Culture University (hereinafter referred to as CCU) in Taiwan declares that philosophical education can and must help in the “infodemic” management.

The Department of Philosophy in CCU is nourished in the lively democratic society of Taiwan with a rich heritage of traditional Chinese culture. The campus of CCU is located in Yang-Ming-Shan mountain area in the north of Taipei city, lies in direct neighborhood of the National Park area (http://english.ymsnp.gov.tw), and near to the famous National Palace Museum (https://www.npm.gov.tw/). The university has its own museum (https://hkm.pccu.edu.tw/), too. With the excellent natural and cultural surroundings, the department is unique in combing the edge-cutting new thoughts on the one hand, and the long-standing traditional ideas on the other hand.

Not widely known, this department is the first institute which endowed PhD degree in Philosophy in Taiwan. It have invited scholars of various backgrounds to give lectures, including some who were blacklisted during the period of the martial law (1949-1987), say, Hu Lancheng, who was labelled as a traitor and lived in Japan for the rest of his life. In recent years, Philosophy department of CCU have built more connections with philosophers from the globe. In 2015, the department had a joint conference on Memory cooperated with Nagoya University, Japan. In 2018, the department hosts the 2nd Asia regional meeting of the International Plato Society which is the most international organization in the field of Platonic studies. (https://platosociety.org/ips-regional-meeting-report-forming-the-soul-plato-and-his-opponents-20-22-april-2018-taipei-taiwan/) The success of that conference has been well recognized. Now, Prof. Hua-kuei Ho of the department is the representative for Asia, Australia, and Africa in the International Plato Society. At the same time, the department devotes itself into philosophical education among locals. Prof. Feng-wei Wu, another staff of the department, created the Philosophical Education Development Organization, abbrev. Phedo (http://www.phedotw.org/), with his friends, to promote people’s capacity of critical thinking. He was the 2nd and 3rd president (2016-2017 and 2018-2019) and remains a core figure in the organization now.

Philosophy does not only pursue freedom of thought, but also cultivate ability to think free, think independently. The Philosophy department of CCU calls for philosophical education development which will hopefully be an important tool to make people immune to the confusing thoughts in the “infodemic”. In this era, it is what philosophers can do, and also what philosophers must do.

Taipei Medical University research team finds opportunity to treat muscle disorders

In addition to prolonging lifespan, scientists also have long been in pursuit of maintaining human healthspan. For the elderly, as their declined muscle mass and strength cause physical inconvenience, maintaining the health of skeletal muscle is therefore of vital importance so as to keep the ideal quality of life.

Professor Yi-Fan Chen and Professor Yun Yen from Taipei Medical University, in collaboration with researchers from Japan and Taiwan, have recently published their work in npj regenerative medicine. The research article examines how Ribonucleotide reductase M2B (Rrm2b) modulates the fate of stem cells in skeletal muscle in response to injury. The homeostasis of skeletal muscle relies on the interplay between the muscle stem cells (MuSCs) and their microenvironment (niche). By genetically modified mouse models, Chen unveiled that specific knockout of Rrm2b in the myofibers (a part of niche), but not in MuSCs, led to the weakness of muscles, including loss of muscle mass and strength. These Rrm2b myofiber-specific knockout mice displayed compromised regenerative capacity of muscle with thinner fiber sizes and weaker functioning. Moreover, the lack of Rrm2b in the myofibers resulted in mitochondrial defects, showing a part of the typical characteristics of mitochondrial myopathy.

Furthermore, Chen’s team collaborated with Dr. I-Hsuan Lin, her fellow TMU researcher, for RNA-sequencing to identify several myokines released from Rrm2b-deleted myofibers. These myokines, including FGF-21, GDF-15, and Mthfd2, triggered MuSCs differentiation rather than reentry of quiescence to repopulate the stem cell pool. The decreased MuSC pool due to the imbalance between differentiation and self-renewal of MuSCs thus contributed to muscle weakness and impaired regenerative capacity.

In conclusion, Chen’s study identified a novel role of Rrm2b in muscle homeostasis. Rrm2b in the myofibers plays a critical role in modulating the stem cell fate of MuSCs by an alternation of the microenvironment (niche), and it provides an opportunity for strategy development to treat muscle disorders. Animals with defective Rrm2b expression can probably serve as a disease model for investigating mitochondrial myopathy in mammals. It is expected that such promising research findings will lead to clinical use in promoting muscle health in the coming years.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-022-00231-w

 

CCU’s College of Kinesiology and Health cultivates sports talents

The College of Kinesiology and Health (hereinafter referred to as CKH) inherited the traditional culture and spirit of Chinese Culture University (PCCU) for about six decades. CKH, one of the leading sports institutions in Taiwan, is committed to cultivating sports talents and high-level competitive sports and owns the foresight to demonstrate the spirit of the sustainable development of the Asian and Olympic Games.

CKH develops the largest ranges of sports teams, such as basketball, volleyball, baseball, soccer, rugby, korfball, tennis, soft tennis, Pétanque, badminton, table tennis, golf, bowling, wooden ball, gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, track and field, swimming, western rowing, dragon boat, archery, judo, wrestling, taekwondo, karate, boxing, Sanshou, pushing hands, Chinese martial arts (Wushu), Tai-Chi, dragon and lion dancing, fencing, jiu-jitsu, bodybuilder, qigong, mix martial art, etc. CKH awards scholarships and fee exemptions for elite athletes and representatives of Taiwan. Up till the present moment, CKH has trained the athletes not only to win hundreds of medals for Taiwan in international competitions but also to honor numerous trophies in national games.

The specialty of training plan brings together the different specific sports and academic programs arranged by all aspects of departments of Physical Education (from bachelor degrees to postgraduate Ph.D. level), Combat Sports and Chinese Martial Arts, and Exercise and Health Promotion. Our staffs and teachers are experts in their fields at the forefront of training trends. Meanwhile, the full-time teachers and invited coaches are responsible for coaching and managing.

For enhancing sports performance, CKH integrates all the resources of different scientific laboratories such as sports physiology, sports biomechanics, sports performance, sports psychology, athletic trainer, recovery, and rehabilitation to support the sports teams in various training fields: tactics and skill drills, strength training and physical conditioning, consultation, nutritional assessment, and athletic recovery, as well as rehabilitation, etc.

Under such aggressive challenge and pressure of recruiting athletes from sports-related departments in domestic universities, the College of Kinesiology and Health still insists a belief on the underlying goal of education: adopting the science-based and efficient training methods, monitoring the holistic status of athletes, reducing the risk of injury and improving performance, returning the health to athletes, and finally contributing and developing more superior coaches and athletes to Taiwan.

Connecting Korean culture to the world

Founded in 1962, the Department of Korean Language and Literature of Chinese Culture University (hereinafter referred to as CCU) is a global leading Korean program and one of the earliest establishments of Korean education and research in Taiwan, R.O.C. In its 60-year history of excellence, the Department has been a center for talent cultivation, international exchange, and dynamic research. In 1985, the Department established the first postgraduate Korean program in Taiwan, R.O.C. Currently, the Department is home to 10 full-time teachers, 8 part-time teachers, among which 44 percent is Korean natives. Our department is the most popular program in Chinese Culture University for minor and double-major students.

Currently, 426 students are enrolled in the Department’s undergraduate program, and 59 students in the postgraduate program, among which approximately 20 percent are international students from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Indonesia etc. Our students are passionate learners of Korean language, literature, culture, history, and industry. They thrive in a friendly, diverse, and professional environment fostered jointly by the Department’s faculty and student body.

Many of our graduates go on to become Korean specialists, government employees, teachers, translators, and entrepreneurs, in a variety of industries including but not limited to business, culture, fashion, tourism, politics, international relations, and education. Our students run the Student Union of the Korean Department. They host events such as K-Pop, dance, drama contest, speech contest, BBQ day, traditional Korean folk culture day, among other exciting cultural highlights. Senior students are required to combine their specialty with the needs of our nation by taking on internships in public and private sectors. They usually serve in international airports, local police offices, KOTRA, Korea Tourism Organization, as well as museums and galleries.

The Department takes pride in its vibrant exchange students program. In Taiwan, Chinese Culture University has the most sister universities. Department of Korean has 45 sister universities in Korea. In a 2-year and 3-year students choose to become exchange students in Korea for six months or one year. Various scholarships are available for students. The Department in turn hosts overseas exchange students. Our students thus study in a highly international and diverse setting that is the second to none in Taiwan.

The graduate program of the Department of Korean Language and Literature has the most alumni in the field of Korean studies in Taiwan and is considered top-choice by native Korean postgraduate students. Korean linguistics, teaching methodology, administrative policy, history, social sciences, and literature are our strongest areas of specialty. Annually, graduate students present their research papers in the conference, in which they interact with international scholarly and peers. Graduate students also participate in the student exchange program, with roughly 50 outbound students each year. Postgraduate students foster their academic and practical skills through job opportunities such as TA, RA, and office administration assistants.

The Department is home to Center for Korean Studies, Chinese Culture University established in 2014. As a regular beneficiary of research funds from The Academy of Korean Studies, the Center holds annual events such as The Western Pacific-Asia Conference on Korean Studies and The Next Generation Korean Studies Conference. The Center also publishes a yearly book series entitled The Collected Papers of Korean Studies, which contributes to the deepening of Korean studies, connecting global Korean studies networks in China, Japan, and India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand. The Center has close regional partnership with The Academy of Korean Studies and Hankook University of Foreign Studies, and it now becomes a leading hub for Korean Center in East and Southeast Asia regions.

We always look forward to new partnerships, research collaborations, and new friendship. We will constantly devote ourselves to the promotion of Korean studies.

Taipei Medical University’s Dr Lin-Yi Tseng wins research award

Dr. Lin-Yi Tseng is currently an associate professor from the Center for General Education at Taipei Medical University. Her work on “the Development of Western Medicine in Dadaocheng(大稻埕) in Modern Taiwan” recently won the 8th Professor Shutsung Liao Research Award by North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA).

According to Dr. Tseng, Dadaocheng played a very important role in the modernization of Taiwan’s medical care, and was the location of many firsts, such as Taiwan’s first general hospital, “Hongji Hospital”; Taiwan’s first female physician, A-Hsin Tsai (蔡阿信); Taiwan’s first dentist, Dr. Tseng-Chyuan Chen (陳增全) (Tseng-Chyuan Dentistry); and the first Indigenous Taiwanese physician (from the Puyuma tribe) to complete a Western-style medical education path, Dr. Tang-Shan Hsieh (謝唐山). In addition, from the Japanese Colonial Period to the early Post-War Period, Dadaocheng had a large number of western hospitals and pharmacies, such as Watsons Pharmacy and Taihetang Pharmacy, etc., which influenced the medical development of not just Taipei, but arguably even all of Taiwan. Unfortunately, Dadaocheng’s medical history and contributions are rarely covered in our history textbooks, and there is a dearth of complete and comprehensive professional research, which is a pity.

Dr. Tseng’s research depicts the evolvement of medical care over decades. The Japanese colonial period brought modern medical care to Taiwan. Through the establishment of new medical schools and hospitals, as well as various medical experiments, the medical foundation of modern Taiwan was laid. Among them, Dadaocheng is an important area for the attainment and practice of medical knowledge.

Dr. Tseng indicated that “humanities” are also of great significance to medical research. With the passage of time, many important medical materials in Taiwan may gradually disappear. As a historian, one has the responsibility of getting Taiwanese people understand the medical history of modern Taiwan through interviews, studies, writing and publications. Furthermore, as a lecturer at a medical university, it is one’s responsibility to get students to understand the medical development of modern Taiwan. The research results should also be published as a historical publication so that more people can understand the deep relationship between Dadaocheng and Western medicine.

Training multi-talents specialising in East Asian languages

The Chinese Culture University was in the vanguard of establishment of the Department of Japanese Language and Literature in Taiwan.

The department cultivates transdisciplinary talents by providing professional courses of “humanities expertise plus one.” The department also offers practical courses to help students transfer learning from classroom to workplace and encourages students to understand Japanese society from the popular industry chain. Moreover, the department receives a grant from the Eurasia Foundation to provide a lecture course entitled “The Asian Community: The Construction and Transformation of East Asian Studies.” Combining the resources of Japan Research Center and the East Asian Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at our University, the department aims to cultivate young talents specializing in East Asian studies.

The department has cooperation relations with 33 partner institutions in Japan. The cooperation activities include exchange studies to Japan annually, summer study at partner institutions in Japan, and inviting students from partner institutions to join the Chinese language summer camp at our university. The department also has the only Japanese-Taiwan exchange professor system in Taiwan, which increases the opportunities for teacher-student exchanges between Taiwan and Japan. In addition, the department organizes Taiwan-Japanese student exchange activities such as “Japanese Corner” and “Student Companion.”

Moreover, we have industry-academy cooperation with travel agencies to promote Taiwan-Japanese youth exchange activities, provide students with internship opportunities to guided tour to famous off-campus attractions through the service learning courses, and provide trainings for students who want to take foreign-language tour manager and tour guide national license examination. We also encourage students to gain internship experience in foreign countries. Our department offers the industry-academy cooperation internship project to foreign countries, applies for “Overseas Internship Program” provided by the Ministry of Education, and selects outstanding students to intern abroad in overseas business institutions during summer vacation.

TMU parasitology researchers engaged in field investigation in Africa amid COVID pandemic

Taipei Medical University research team, led by Professor Chia-Kwung Fan of the Department of Molecular Parasitology and Tropical Diseases, visited the Kingdom of Eswatini, a diplomatic ally of Taiwan, between October and December in 2021.
During the visit, the team successfully carried out a parasitic disease investigation and continued to support the bilateral public health cooperation for parasite control and prevention which was initiated 12 years ago.

Professor Chia-Kwung Fan has for many years been a key supporter of public health diplomacy, leading the collaboration with Mbabane Government Hospital , Malaria Center and the Parasite Prevention Center to monitor various parasitic diseases in Eswatini, such as intestinal parasites, malaria and schistosomiasis by disseminating knowledge and skills required for laboratory work and pest control through tailored training programs. The hope is to bring neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) to an end by 2030 (in line with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Target 3.3 on communicable diseases) through cross-national collaboration.

The planned collaboration in research was forced to suspend due to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which could lead to the lost momentum in in disease prevention and control and the consequent reappearance of chains of infection. Professor Fan therefore led a team of researchers, consisting of post-doctoral researcher, Chia-Mei Chou , doctoral student of the Department of Public Health, Hsiao-Ching Kuo , and doctoral student of the Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Yun-Hung Tu , to re-initiate the collaborative research project in Eswatini.

Reflecting on the task, Professor Fan indicated that the project was awash with unknown and possibly severe challenges. In addition to the preparation of protective equipment and vaccines necessary for protection from COVID-19, a large majority of time was spent with the health personnel in Eswatini strategizing the best plan of action to go deep into the community through scenario planning and carrying out itinerary checks for the inspections, blood collection and questionnaires. On top of the monitoring of intestinal parasites, they also targeted provinces with potential pork tapeworm epidemics risks for serum screening.

Yun-Hung Tu found that even with the training and work experience of a professional medical examiner, he finds it challenging working in the field while wearing full PPE and shuttling between local communities to recover blood, urine and feces samples. Meanwhile, Hsiao-Ching Kuo encountered problems during her research when the off-road bus she took broke down and there was power outage in the accommodation area followed by bad weather. The outbreak of the South African variant of Omicron further complicated matters and resulted in the cancellation of the return flight. While in the field members of the TMU research team faced numerous situations that tested their adaptability and communication skills.

Despite a series of challenges, Professor Fan and his team successfully completed the investigation and produced a solid analysis with recommendations for the local authorities and communities to plan for follow-up treatment. Professor Fan believes that long-term bilateral medical and public health collaboration projects serve to benefit a new generation of medical talent in the fields of biomedical research and international collaboration. Taiwan is uniquely placed to offer its strong clinical capabilities in medical and parasite control and public health to contribute to the wellbeing of international communities. Professor Fan hopes that TMU and the Taiwanese government will continue to pay attention to the development of related fields in medicine and continue to support such partnerships between Taiwan and its international friends.

How academic collaboration works in CCU College of Kinesiology and Health

At the college of Kinesiology and Health from Chinese Culture University (hereinafter referred to as CCU), our faculty members devote themselves to teaching & research and collaboration with the government, sports federations, fitness agencies, and enterprises. Many of them engage their expertise to make ideas into reality by applying research findings to help companies test and refine their product design.

For example, Dr. Hsien-Te Peng helps Footdisc company test whether their insole product can help badminton players improve agility. Dr. Huey-June Wu worked with the Industrial Technology Research Institute to collect exercise data during the Graded Exercise Test and Three-minute Step Test for helping design wearable devices.

Dr. Hsu-Chih Tai helps the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare train certified exercise instructors to prevent or delay disability of the aging population in Taiwan. Our faculty members not only teach how exercise acutely and chronically affects our body, but they also work to make it happen by taking leading roles in sports agencies and federations.

Also, they work closely with fitness agencies. Here, we emphasize hands-on learning by actively engaging students in research programs and industry-academia collaboration projects. We strive to train students to apply their learning and discovery to make value and change lives through exercise and sports.

Taipei Medical University pioneers to fill body with 3D printed organs in Taiwan

Taipei Medical University (TMU) Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education Center (IEEC) recently held the inaugural Medical Humanistic Care Workshop 2022 in collaboration with Shuang Ho Hospital, themed “Applying medical 3D printing to restore the body integrity of organ donors”.

The use of 3D printing for the replication of organs enables donors’ bodies to be returned to a full body state after donation and acts as a reassuring measure for the donor and their relatives in the process of organ donation. Influenced by traditional ideas, Taiwan’s organ donation rate has been much lower than most Western countries.

According to the statistics from the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center , over 10,000 patients are on the waiting list for an organ transplant as of May 2022, among them less than 335 (3.2%) have already received an organ or tissue transplant. Data over the years shows that in total only close to 10% of those waiting for organ donation successfully received an organ transplant, while many patients with organ failure are still waiting desperately for a life-saving donation.

The organ recruitment team leader, Dr. Hui-Tzung Luh from the Neurosurgery Department of Shuang Ho Hospital said that currently most of those on the waiting list are in need of a new kidney. On average, there are about 8,000 patients in need of kidney transplantation each year, but only over 200 are ever successful in receiving an organ transplant. Most patients can only rely on dialysis and keep waiting for the right match. The use of dialysis machines not only is a heavy burden on health insurance finances, but also seriously affects the quality of life of patients who routinely have to use the machines.

Dr. Luh explained that after an organ is removed from the donor, the cavity in the body will be dented and deformed where it has been sutured, and this will affect the body’s appearance. With the use of 3D printing, the shape of the organ can be realistically restored, so that the appearance of the donor will not be greatly affected. Shuang Ho Hospital recently used such method on a brain-dead patient, whose body was sutured and filled with the 3D printed organs with thank-you message after the organ donation.

This was a great comfort to the patient’s mother. The TMU team behind this 3D printing technology hopes that the adoption of such method helps address concerns of the individuals wishing to observe traditional ideas and gives the public more confidence in voluntary organ donation in the future. The Director of IEEC at TMU, Professor Yu-Cheng Hsiao indicated that 3D printing can quickly customize and is now a commonly used tool. However, there are still challenges in the 3D printing of organs such as making the organs match close to the size of the donor’s body and considering how they will be disposed of during cremation. And for those considerations, corn flour was therefore used as the material for its organic properties suitable for printing of human organs.

Director Hsiao pointed out that the workshop not only taught students how to operate the medical 3D printer to make the organs, but more importantly, gave the students a thorough knowledge of the organ donation process. The workshop was set to teach medical students for the time being, but its long-term objectives are expected to be reaching out to anyone who wanted to know more about the organ donation process in the future. Director Hsiao hopes that the willingness of the Taiwanese public to voluntarily donate organs will increase when they are given the option of filling the body with 3D printed organs, hence improving the likelihood of those waiting for organ donation getting matched with the organs they need.