Education:
M.D. -National Taiwan University
Ph.D. -Academia Sinica and National Taiwan University Joint Ph.D. Program of Translational Medicine
Position:
- Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Medical Genomics and Proteomics, Medical College, National Taiwan University
- Attending Physician, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, National Taiwan University Hospital
- Vice CEO, Center for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital
We focused on East Asian-specific genetic variants of type 2 diabetes, obesity, fatty liver, and kidney diseases. We use transgenic mice to dissect the molecular mechanism, develop small-molecular drugs, and conduct clinical trials.
East Asians are relatively genetically isolated. We participated in large-scale East Asian whole-genome scanning cooperation projects, such as TOPMed and SAPPHIRe. We discovered several novel East Asian-specific genetic variants for diabetes and obesity, such as the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) mutation (E487K) and Canton-type G6PD genetic mutations.
We found that the ALDH2 East Asian-specific knockin mice developed obesity, abnormal glucose homeostasis, fatty liver, impaired renal function, and cardiomyopathy. We collaborated with Stanford University and pharmaceutical companies to develop potent ALDH2 activators which can scavenge harmful aldehydes and rescue these pathological conditions in mice. Among them, the preventive effect of acute kidney injury of ALDH2 activators will enter the second phase of clinical trials. We are also testing the therapeutic effects of small-molecule G6PD activators that can reverse obesity, abnormal glucose homeostasis, cardiomyopathy, and nephropathy caused by the Canton-type G6PD mutation in mice.
In addition, we also identified endogenous PPARγ ligands and used genetic knockout mice to confirm that increasing the endogenous PPARγ ligand can reduce obesity, fatty liver, and improve glucose homeostasis without the side effect of synthetic PPARγ ligands (thiazolidinediones) such as obesity, water retention, and osteoporosis. We further develop small-molecule PTGR2 inhibitors that can increase endogenous PPARγ ligands, improve glucose homeostasis, and reduce obesity and fatty liver in mice.
1. 1998 臺灣大學醫學系書卷獎
2. 2004 臺大內科住院醫師學術優異獎
3. 2006 國衛院醫師攻讀臨床在職專班獎助
4. 2007 中華民國糖尿病學會默沙東優秀論文獎
5. 2008 Peter Bennett’s Award, IDF/WPR Asia-Pacific Diabetes Epidemiology and
Education Training Course
6. 2008 Human Genome Organization (HUGO) Young Investigator Award
7. 2008 華夏內分泌學會年輕傑出研究獎
8. Top 10 Cited Paper (2010) Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental
9. 2013 中華民國糖尿病學會輝瑞優秀論文獎
10. 2014 中華民國糖尿病學會諾和諾德糖尿病傑出研究獎
11. 2016 臺大醫學院研究生優秀著作獎
12. 2016, 2020 年中華民國糖尿病學會研究計劃獎勵
13. 2016 跨世紀醫療促進基金會醫學研究獎
14. 2015,2017, 2018, 2021學年台灣大學學術研究績效獎勵
15. 2019 科技部未來科技突破獎 (台灣大學與國家衛生研究院團隊)
16. 2019臺灣醫學會雜誌年度最佳審查人獎
17. 臺大醫學院及臺大醫院兩院轉譯醫學2005, 2019, 2021,2022, 2023 獲獎團隊
18. 2024台灣大學資深優良教師
19. 2024中華民國糖尿病學會傑出研究獎
1. Academic Performance Award, National Taiwan University (1998)
2. Distinguished Academic Achievement Award of Residents, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital (2004)
3. Medical Research Award for Physicians in Working Professional Master’s Program, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan (2006)
4. MSD Distinguished Research Paper Award, Diabetes Association of Taiwan (2007)
5. Peter Bennett’s Award, IDF/WPR Asia-Pacific Diabetes Epidemiology and Education Training Course (2008)
6. Young Investigator Award, Human Genome Organization (HUGO) (2008)
7. Young Investigator Award, 5th Huaxia Congress of Endocrinology (2008)
8. Top 10 Cited Paper of Metabolism (2010)
9. Pfizer Distinguished Research Paper Award, Diabetes Association of Taiwan (2013)
10. Novo Nordisk Distinguished Research Award, Diabetes Association of Taiwan (2014)
11. Outstanding Research Award for Graduate Students of National Taiwan University School of Medicine (2016)
12. Research Program Award of the Diabetes Society of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (2016, 2020)
13. Outstanding Research Award of the New Century Health Care Promotion Foundation (2016)
14. Academic Research Performance Award, National Taiwan University (2015, 2017, 2018, 2021)
15. Future Technology Breakthrough Award, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (2019)
16. Best Reviewer Award, Journal of Formosan Medical Association 2019
17. Translational Research Award of National Taiwan University Medical College and National Taiwan University (2018.2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
18. Senior Excellent Teacher Award, National Taiwan University (2024)
19. Distinguished Research Award, Diabetes Association of Taiwan (2024)