Principal Vice Principal College of Bioresources and Agriculture Center for Biotechnology Zoonoses Reasearch Center Epidemic and Information Research and Development Monitoring and Detection Education Training International Cooperation 2
Our research center of zoonoses, classified under the College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture of National Taiwan University, was established on Feb. 21st of 1996. We are currently located within Building I, School of Veterinary Medicine of National Taiwan University. Our research center is qualified as a P2-Plus (BSL-2+) laboratory. Our research center was established in response to the increasing incidence rate of emerging diseases within the human population, the rapid geographic spread of epidemics, and the development of drug resistance by disease agents. An example of a recent epidemic would be SARS, which from year 2002-2003, its outbreak had unsettled the global human population terribly. Another example would be the outbreak of avian influenza A (H5N1) in Hong Kong in 1997; global outbreaks (i.e., China, Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa) of H5N1 have been recorded from 2003 up till the present. Infectious diseases not only disrupt lives, but also disturbs a country economically and socially. It can be observed that these emerging and reemerging diseases are zoonoses, hence these diseases not only infect humans, but are also pathogenic to susceptible animal hosts; which implies that prevention and control for zoonoses are challenging. To prevent and control zoonoses, complete knowledge of their natural history must first be understood. Natural history of a disease refers to the course of a disease agent in nature, the process of how transmission occurs from various disease vectors to the final host, humans. Hence, to promote the monitoring, diagnosis and prevention of zoonoses, as well as the promotion of education and training programs for raising public awareness, the College of Bio-Resources and Agriculture of NTU has gathered and appointed faculty members associated with the field of zoonoses to establish this research center. Our research center of zoonoses serves as a communication platform for zoonoses associated researches, promotes research plans, obtains research resources, and we aim to establish a core laboratory and core technology service network in the near future. 3
Current Director Professor Hsiang-Jung Tsai Highest Degree: Ph.D., Ohio State University, USA. Research Area: The Etiology, Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Prevention and Control of Avian Disease and Zoonoses Tel: +886-2-3366-3862 Email: tsaihj@ntu.edu.tw Past Directors Professor Chung-Hsi Chou Highest Degree: Ph.D., Mississippi State University, USA. Research Area: Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Veterinary Clinical Microbiology, and Food Safety Tel: +886-2-3366-9735 Email: cchou@ntu.edu.tw Professor Shao-Kuang Chang Highest Degree: Ph.D., North Carolina State University, USA. Research Area: Veterinary Pharmacology, Toxicology, Drug Residues and Drug Resistance Telephone: 02-33663864 Email: changsk@ntu.edu.tw 4
Associate Professor Chen-Si Lin Highest Degree: Ph.D., National Chiao Tung University Research area: Tumor physiology Clinical pathology Microbiology Immunology Telephone: 02-33661286 Email: cslin100@ntu.edu.tw Professor Chih-Hsien Chiu Highest Degree: Ph.D., Department of Animal Science and Technology, National Taiwan University Research area: Anatomy and physiology and practice, Experimental zoology, Molecular endocrinology, Steroids science Email: chiuchihhsien@ntu.edu.tw Professor Yi-Sheng Chen Research area: Meat processing Food nutrition development and utilization of Livestock resources assessment of health food function. Telephone: 02-33664180 Email: ycpchen@ntu.edu.tw Professor Fei Pang Highest Degree: Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, USA. Research area: Veterinary Pathology, Veterinary Immunology, Veterinary Toxicopathology, Swine Diseases, Wildlife Diseases Telephone: 02-33663868 Email: pang@ntu.edu.tw 5
Associate professor Lih-Chiann Wang Highest Degree: Ph.D., National Taiwan University Research area: Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, Molecular Biology, Behavioral Medicine, Microbiology Telephone: 02-37396828 #4270 Email: lcwang@ntu.edu.tw Professor Chian-Ren Jeng Highest Degree: Ph.D., North Carolina State University, USA. Research area: Veterinary Pathology, Immunology, Veterinary Virology, Diagnostic Pathology Telephone: 02-33663870 Email: crjeng@ntu.edu.tw Professor Wei-Chiang Shen Highest Degree: Ph.D., Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Texas A&M University Research area: Fungal Genetics, Fungal Physiology, Molecular Biology Telephone: 02-33664599 Email: wcshen@ntu.edu.tw Assistant Professor Chi-Wei Tsai Highest Degree: Ph.D., Ohio state university, USA. Research area: Vector transmission of plant and animal pathogens, the interaction between Drosophila and its symbiotic microorganisms Telephone: 02-33665576 Email: chiwei@ntu.edu.tw 6
Professor Ming-Jeng Pan Highest Degree: Ph.D. Microbiology, University of California, Davis, USA. Research area: The molecular biology of leptospires, borreliae and brachyspiras, Epidemiology of emerging zoonoses in Taiwan Telephone: 04-22394403 Email: mjpan@ctust.edu.tw Assistant Professor Shiu-Hui Li Highest Degree: Ph.D., Department of veterinary medicine, National Chung Hsing University Telephone: 02-26298185 Email: shlee@mail.nvri.gov.tw 7
Applying for laboratory accreditation has become a predominant trend; with accreditation, the level of diagnostic techniques and quality control can be further enhanced, and facilitates a laboratory to keep pace with international standards. As the sole P2-Plus laboratory on campus, under the careful surveillance of the director, Prof. Tsai Hsiang-Jung, and the support of a sedulous team, the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation was granted to our research center this year, on Sept. 22. After gaining accreditation, our core laboratory strives for the principle of safety, proficiency, efficiency ; we will continue to provide the most accurate diagnosis and efficient customer service. Our research center of zoonoses aims to actively take part in the monitoring, diagnosis and prevention of zoonoses; hopefully, we can serve as a barrier between zoonoses and the global human and animal population. 8