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Artificial and Human Intelligence Forum at NCKU: Cultivating the Future of International AI Biomedicine

Writing by Hsu Tsu-Yueh. Photos by Chen Hung-Jui.
 
The Artificial and Human Intelligence International Master Forum and Strategic Cooperation beyond Borders Signing Ceremony took place at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU). Sheng-Fu Liang, Director of MOST Artificial Intelligence Biomedical Research Center (MOST AIBMRC), expressed that fields such as Precision Health, Digital Information Communication, and Information Security can be further advanced with the integration of AI. In the midst of a global pandemic, AI technology’s advancement will let the world see Taiwan and expand its international influence.
 
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The Artificial and Human Intelligence International Master Forum and Strategic Cooperation beyond Borders Signing Ceremony took place at NCKU
 
Director Liang stated that since the onset of Taiwan’s AI development era in 2017, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has been vigorously promoting prospective AI research. MOST AIBMRC cultivates top AI talent and conducts technology development through cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional, and cross-national collaboration to meet the demands of industry upgrade. With establishing a new AI biomedical system as the overall goal, academic and research teams under MOST AIBMRC work for progresses in the fields of new AI biomedical science and biology technologies; its aim to bridge the gap between research and industry and to apply AI solutions to the unmet needs of the market in biomedical fields. The center dedicates itself to improving situations in clinical practices and accelerating the production and verification of AI application technology.
 
NCKU Dept. of Computer Science and Information Engineering and Fu-Chiang Tsui, Associate Professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine & Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, expressed that the focus of international strategic cooperation lies in the cultivation of top international AI talent. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is the oldest and most comprehensive children’s hospital system in the United States. The hospital utilizes AI in medicine informatics. Due to COVID-19, the applications of AI have been further expanded to include Telemedicine and home care, which aims to detect and predict risk at early stages. NCKU physicians or researchers are welcomed to visit Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to learn and exchange ideas.
 
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MOST AIBMRC hopes to explore and expand ways for academia and industry collaborations
 
MOST AIBMRC has been based in southern Taiwan for the past three years. Director Liang stated that the uniting of professional medical systems, linking up industry and government momentum has allowed for great strides of advancement in the era of AI. Under the context of the Six Core Strategies proposed by the government, the center hopes that, by signing MOUs with international academic institutions, it can explore and expand ways for academia and industry collaborations in order to provide stronger support in terms of studies and research for the talents currently endeavoring on the path of AI biomedicine and biotechnology research.
 
According to Tzyy-Ping Jung, Associate Director of Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience at UC San Diego, future collaboration will be conducted through the J. Yang Scholarship and Exchange Program, which will provide scholarships for up to 30,000 USD to assist with PhD students, Masters’ students, undergraduate students, educators, international forums, and outstanding paper awards. It will expand possibilities for talents in related expertise fields to do research at different locations, allowing them to conduct research at strategic cooperation partner institutions for short-term, mid-term, or long-term, opening up international opportunities for domestic AI biomedical talents.
 
Tzyy-Ping Jung expressed that through active collaborations in improving situations in cross-national clinical practices, the center expects to accelerate cross-national talents’ production and verification of cross-national talents AI applications, including domestically developed technologies being applied to international clinical situations, and breakthroughs on foreign advanced technology made by Taiwan top AI talent. In terms of clinical trials, listing regulations, and cross-border collaborations, the acceleration of development and completion of AI biomedicine technology application marks the cutting-edge of smart precision health.
 
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Cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional, and cross-national collaborations are encouraged in the AI development era
 
The Master Forum and MOU signing ceremony on February 18th at NCKU’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering (CSIE), was held jointly by MOST AIBMRC and NCKU Institute of Medical Informatics. Wei-Chou Hsu, Dean of College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Woei-Jer Chuang, Director of NCKU Innovation Headquarters, Yeim-Kuan Chang, Chair of NCKU CSIE, Sun-Yuan Hsieh, Chief Executive Officer of NCKU Research and Development Foundation, Fu-Zhen Shaw, Dean of College of Social Sciences, Chou-Ching Lin, Chairperson of MOST Neurology Department, Yi-Shan Tsai, Director of NCKU Hospital Clinical Innovation and Research Center, and Cheng-Yu Lin, Director of NCKU Sleep Medicine Center, were in attendance.
 
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