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VGH National
Yang-Ming University Genome Research Center
Mailing address: 155, Li-Nong
St., Sec.2, Peitou, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: +886-2-2826-7260
Fax: +886-2-2825-0305
Email: 
Homepage: http://genome.ym.edu.tw/
NYMU: a research-oriented university
Formally the Yang-Ming Medical
College, in 1994, it was officially promoted as the National Yang Ming
University (NYMU) (http://www.ym.edu.tw/).
The University includes the School of Medicine, the School of Medical
Technology and Biomedical Engineering, the School of Life Science, the
School of Nursing, and the School of Dentistry. Under this structure,
there are several institutes offering graduate training, including Institute
of Neuroscience, Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of
Biochemistry, Institute of Physiology, Institute of Pharmacology, Institute
of Genetics, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Institute of Parasitology,
Institute of Biopharmaceutics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Institute
of Traditional Medicine, Institute of Biotechnology in Medicine, Institute
of Health Informatics, etc.
Additionally, NYMU
has a wide range of research centers, focusing on genome research, neuroscience,
immunology, community medicine, cellular and molecular biology, community
nursing, bio-medical engineering, bioinformatics, cardiovascular disease,
urology science, liver disease, new drug development research, protein,
and microarray, etc.
Each year, the NYMU
faculty applies for a wide range of research grants from the National
Science Council (NSC), National Health
Research Institutes (NHRI),
Department of Health (DOH), Council of Agriculture (COA), Environmental
Protection Administration (EPA), and other industrial and academic institutions.
As a medical-based university,
NYMU has been the leader of biomedical
research in Taiwan. Two program projects entitled "Human
Brain Project: From Genes to Cognition" and "Genome-based
Biomedical Research for the 21st Century"
were selected by the Ministry of Education (MOE) for the excellent
academic research projects. The director of the Human Brain Project is
the former Education Minister Mr. Chi-lang Cheng.
Multi-dimensional education programs and inter-university collaboration
To promote interdisciplinary
research and education, NYMU allows
teaching staffs to plan their own curricula and train postgraduate and
undergraduate students to meet the future needs. NYMU offers multi-dimensional
programs covering developmental biology, structural biology, genomics,
and bioinformatics to provide greater flexibility of career development
for the students. One successful example is the bioinformatics program,
which involved the faculty from at least three different disciplines,
and the result is impressive. As a result,
NYMU has applied to the MOE for the establishment of the Bioinformatics
Institute, which will open this year.
NYMU
has also launched cooperation plans with other major universities in the
island, including the National Chao Tung University (NCTU), National Ching
Hua University (NCHU), and National Chingchi University (NCCU). The cooperation
with the NCCU is scheduled to start in this September to allow NYMU students
to take Biotechnology Management Program at the NCCU. It is an effort
to strengthen the competitiveness of students from both universities and
to promote double major curricula.
Genomic Research in NYMU
The project on sequencing
human chromosome 4 has not only brought international recognition to the
collaborative research team of the Veteran General Hospital, Taipei (VGH-TPE)
and the National Yang Ming University (NYMU),
but also has made NYMU a leading university in Taiwan in genomics research.
NYMU
has established the genome research center (YMGC
for Yang-Ming University Genome Research Center) ¡]http://genome.ym.edu.tw/¡^to
conduct various genome projects, including the sequencing projects on
chimpanzee, mosquito, bacteria, and Ganoderma lucidum, and cancer genomics.
There are eleven core facilities in the YMGC,
namely, Sequencing Core,
Bioinformatics Core,
Gene Expression Analysis
Core, Genotyping Lab,
Molecular Cytogenetics
Lab, Molecular Pathology
Lab, Mouse Genetics
Lab, Monoclonal Antibody
and Phage Display Lab, Drosophila
Genetics Lab, Yeast
Genetics Lab . The YMGC has launched
collaborative research projects with other industrial and academic institutions,
home and abroad.
In January 2002, The National
Science Council (NSC) of Taiwan officially
announced setting up several national core facilities, including the Basic
Genomics Core Facility and a Microarray
and Gene Expression Analysis Laboratory at the NYMU
campus, and the Positron Disruption Scanner and Probe Facility at VGH-TPE.
The funding will be from the National
Research Program for Genomic Medicine. With these new initiatives,
future investment and development in the University will mark NYMU's important
and unique position in genomic medicine in Taiwan.
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