Introduction

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/

Director: Ming-Ta Hsu, Ph.D.

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/index-en.html). 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 theTaipei Veterans General Hospital (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 three core facilities in the YMGC, namely, Sequencing Core, Bioinformatics Core, Gene Expression Analysis Core . 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 Core at the NYMU campus, and the Positron Disruption Scanner and Probe Facility at VGH-TPE. The funding is 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.