Academia Sinica’s Chen Ding-shinn (陳定信), the nation’s leading authority on hepatitis, died from pancreatic cancer at National Taiwan University Hospital on Wednesday. He was 76.
Born on July 6, 1943, in then-Taipei County’s Yingge Township (鶯歌), Chen was a student of National Taiwan University College of Medicine professor Sung Juei-low (宋瑞樓), dubbed the Taiwanese father of liver disease research.
Chen attributed his dedication to the study of liver diseases to his father dying of liver cancer when he was in his senior year in college and to his contracting hepatitis A when he was in elementary school.
Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei Times
He was in the original group that persuaded the government to introduce hepatitis B preventive measures, leading to the government’s introduction of a mass vaccination program in 1984, the first nation in the world to do so.
To overcome public resistance to the program, Chen and Sung appeared on TV and radio to promote it.
To date, the program has benefitted 8 million Taiwanese.
Chen and his team finalized the genetic sequencing of the Taiwan strain of the hepatitis C virus, paving the way for the development of a treatment using short-term interferon alongside Ribavirin.
That became the foundation for the development of a treatment using long-term interferon with Ribavirin.
Although Chen retired in 2013, he continued to go to his office daily to conduct research and teach students during clinical treatment sessions, National Taiwan University Hospital vice superintendent Wu Ming-shiang (吳明賢) said.
A doctor can only save one life through treatment, but through top-notch research, they can help many, Wu quoted Chen as saying, adding that Chen was a role model for Taiwanese physicians.
Chen’s decision to remain in Taiwan was a boon for the nation’s medical sector, Wu said, citing how Chen had saved the Gastroenterological Society of Taiwan by virtue of his reputation alone when the society was at risk of being removed from the World Gastroenterological Organization due to Chinese interference.
Academia Sinica on Wednesday night also issued a statement in remembrance of Chen.
Chen’s research on hepatitis B and C, and his influence on related policymaking, made Taiwan a world leader in liver disease research, Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said.
Over the past few months, Chen also served as a consultant for the institution’s team researching COVID-19, even though he was unwell, Liao said, expressing deep regret over losing such a valuable mentor.
Additional reporting by Yang Yuan-ting and Lin Chia-nan
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS