Top Canadian Academics Visit NCKU
Tainan, TAIWAN, Dec. 11, 2008 --- Dr. Yvan Guindon, President of the Academy of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada, formerly The Royal Society of Canada, and his wife, Dr. Mona Nemer, Vice President for Research of the University of Ottawa visited Academician Michael M.C. Lai, the President of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) this morning. Both sides exchanged opinions on school administration.
Dr. Mona Nemer expressed interests on what they are for the challenges of Dr. Michael M.C. Lai as the President of NCKU. President Lai said that one of his mission as President of NCKU is to lead NCKU from a local second largest university to one of top 100 global universities. President Lai also admitted the there exist many difficulties on recruiting excellent and talented faculty to teach or research in NCKU because the salary package of faculty in Taiwan is far beyond being competitive with Singapore, Hong Kong and even the top universities in China.
Dr. Mona Nemer also asked about the international students in NCKU. She said the University of Ottawa just approved the agreement of establishing dual degree with NCKU 2 weeks ago. President Lai showed positively to this agreement and said that, though Taiwan is not an English-spoken country and still has much space to be improved to become English-friendly environment, it is challengeable to attract students from English-spoken countries. As, the number of international students is often regarded as an indication for campus global awareness and teaching qualities, President Lai pledged to promote the number of international students.
Dr. Yvan Guindon implied that time investment on teaching and paper work has occupied too much time of faculty, which will hamper the research achievement. He disclosed that in Canada, governmental investment on recruiting more faculties to share the loading of teaching can lighten the pressure of faculties.
Dr. Yvan Guindon and Dr. Mona Nemer also made a speech, entitled “Genetic Dissection of Heart Development” at the Third Lecture Hall in the NCKU College of Medicine.
About Dr. Yvan Guindon
Dr. Yvan Guindon is an eminent chemist. His research into therapeutical chemistry has led to over 50 patents and many compounds that have been selected for development and evaluated in clinical trials.
Dr. Guindon obtained a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the Université de Montréal, Canada. He started his career with the pharmaceutical company, Merck Frosst Canada, in 1979 as a Senior Research Chemist going on to become Director of Medicinal Chemistry in 1984, and then Senior Director in 1985.
Throughout his career, Dr Guindon has maintained close relations with academia and pursued research related to the total synthesis of biologically interesting compounds, new synthetic methodology, and free-radical based reactions. As a professor of Chemistry at the Université de Montreal he has taught and supervised numerous graduate students. He is also an Adjunct Professor at McGill University, also in Montréal.
Prior to becoming President of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Dr Guindon was appointed as the CEO and Scientific Director of the Institut de Recherchés Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), a renowned biomedical research center. He set up the Bio-organic chemistry Research Unit at IRCM, where he continues his research in organic and medicinal chemistry with a team of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
Dr. Guindon has received many distinctions and awards. He became a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 1988 and was elected to the RSC in 1990. In 2004, he was made to a member of the Order of Canada and in 2006 he received the Lionel-Boulet Award, one of the prestigious Prix du Québec awarded by the government of Québec highlighting his remarkable contribution to Quebec’s technological and economic development in the area of medicinal chemistry.
About Dr. Mona Nemer
Dr. Mona Nemer is currently the Vice-President for Research of the University of Ottawa's and a researcher in molecular biology. Dr. Nemer has a PhD in bio-organic chemistry from McGill University. Prior to her arrival at the University of Ottawa, she was a Professor of Pharmacology at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Cardiac Development Research Unit at the Institut de Recherchés Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM).
Dr. Nemer's research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms involved in cellular growth and differentiation, particularly as this relates to heart failure and congenital heart diseases. She is renowned, amongst other things, for her pioneering work on the regulation of natriuretic heart hormones and the identification of several genes essential for heart development. To date, she has published more than 100 articles in prestigious scientific journals and has participated in editing several book chapters. She has also been involved in organizing numerous international gatherings, particularly in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. Since 1995, she has been invited to speak at over one hundred conferences around the world. During her career, she has worked in several different research areas including chemistry, cellular/molecular biology, pathophysiology and clinical studies.
In addition to her scientific achievements, Dr. Mona Nemer has demonstrated a strong commitment to the education of the next generation through both her supervision of graduate and post-graduate students as well as her contributions to numerous community services. Beyond her participation in various peer committees, including the interdisciplinary committee of the Canada Research Chairs Program, the National Research Council's strategic biosciences committee and the multidisciplinary committee of the Human Frontier Science Programme, Dr. Nemer was a member of several executive boards, including that of the MRC/CIHR, and has sat on several national and international advisory committees. As Director of Academic Affairs and Executive Director of Planning and Development for the IRCM, she has contributed to enhancing the reputation of this renowned health research centre.
Dr. Nemer's research accomplishments have brought her a large number of awards, including the Leo Pariseau Prize in Biological Sciences and Health Sciences from ACFAS in 2003 and the Jeanne Manery Fisher Award from the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology's in 2002. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Cell Differentiation.
About National Cheng Kung University.
With three quarters of a century of distinguished history, with well over 120,000 powerful alumni now dotting the globe, many have achieved supreme successes in arts, business, education, science, technology and healthcare and are ready and willing to assist, with 20,000 academic selective students and 1100 academic significant faculty members currently, both have healthy dosage of international flavor, with enormous regional support, and with a permeating culture of proactive intellectual growth on the world’s stage, NCKU in Tainan, Taiwan, has evolved from its engineering genesis to become a powerful comprehensive, research and international university in Asia Pacific.
For further information contact: NCKU Press Officer Wei-Chen Huang at 06-2757575 ext. 50042 or email: weichen@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Dr. Mona Nemer expressed interests on what they are for the challenges of Dr. Michael M.C. Lai as the President of NCKU. President Lai said that one of his mission as President of NCKU is to lead NCKU from a local second largest university to one of top 100 global universities. President Lai also admitted the there exist many difficulties on recruiting excellent and talented faculty to teach or research in NCKU because the salary package of faculty in Taiwan is far beyond being competitive with Singapore, Hong Kong and even the top universities in China.
Dr. Mona Nemer also asked about the international students in NCKU. She said the University of Ottawa just approved the agreement of establishing dual degree with NCKU 2 weeks ago. President Lai showed positively to this agreement and said that, though Taiwan is not an English-spoken country and still has much space to be improved to become English-friendly environment, it is challengeable to attract students from English-spoken countries. As, the number of international students is often regarded as an indication for campus global awareness and teaching qualities, President Lai pledged to promote the number of international students.
Dr. Yvan Guindon implied that time investment on teaching and paper work has occupied too much time of faculty, which will hamper the research achievement. He disclosed that in Canada, governmental investment on recruiting more faculties to share the loading of teaching can lighten the pressure of faculties.
Dr. Yvan Guindon and Dr. Mona Nemer also made a speech, entitled “Genetic Dissection of Heart Development” at the Third Lecture Hall in the NCKU College of Medicine.
About Dr. Yvan Guindon
Dr. Yvan Guindon is an eminent chemist. His research into therapeutical chemistry has led to over 50 patents and many compounds that have been selected for development and evaluated in clinical trials.
Dr. Guindon obtained a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the Université de Montréal, Canada. He started his career with the pharmaceutical company, Merck Frosst Canada, in 1979 as a Senior Research Chemist going on to become Director of Medicinal Chemistry in 1984, and then Senior Director in 1985.
Throughout his career, Dr Guindon has maintained close relations with academia and pursued research related to the total synthesis of biologically interesting compounds, new synthetic methodology, and free-radical based reactions. As a professor of Chemistry at the Université de Montreal he has taught and supervised numerous graduate students. He is also an Adjunct Professor at McGill University, also in Montréal.
Prior to becoming President of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Dr Guindon was appointed as the CEO and Scientific Director of the Institut de Recherchés Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), a renowned biomedical research center. He set up the Bio-organic chemistry Research Unit at IRCM, where he continues his research in organic and medicinal chemistry with a team of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
Dr. Guindon has received many distinctions and awards. He became a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada in 1988 and was elected to the RSC in 1990. In 2004, he was made to a member of the Order of Canada and in 2006 he received the Lionel-Boulet Award, one of the prestigious Prix du Québec awarded by the government of Québec highlighting his remarkable contribution to Quebec’s technological and economic development in the area of medicinal chemistry.
About Dr. Mona Nemer
Dr. Mona Nemer is currently the Vice-President for Research of the University of Ottawa's and a researcher in molecular biology. Dr. Nemer has a PhD in bio-organic chemistry from McGill University. Prior to her arrival at the University of Ottawa, she was a Professor of Pharmacology at the Université de Montréal and Director of the Cardiac Development Research Unit at the Institut de Recherchés Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM).
Dr. Nemer's research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms involved in cellular growth and differentiation, particularly as this relates to heart failure and congenital heart diseases. She is renowned, amongst other things, for her pioneering work on the regulation of natriuretic heart hormones and the identification of several genes essential for heart development. To date, she has published more than 100 articles in prestigious scientific journals and has participated in editing several book chapters. She has also been involved in organizing numerous international gatherings, particularly in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. Since 1995, she has been invited to speak at over one hundred conferences around the world. During her career, she has worked in several different research areas including chemistry, cellular/molecular biology, pathophysiology and clinical studies.
In addition to her scientific achievements, Dr. Mona Nemer has demonstrated a strong commitment to the education of the next generation through both her supervision of graduate and post-graduate students as well as her contributions to numerous community services. Beyond her participation in various peer committees, including the interdisciplinary committee of the Canada Research Chairs Program, the National Research Council's strategic biosciences committee and the multidisciplinary committee of the Human Frontier Science Programme, Dr. Nemer was a member of several executive boards, including that of the MRC/CIHR, and has sat on several national and international advisory committees. As Director of Academic Affairs and Executive Director of Planning and Development for the IRCM, she has contributed to enhancing the reputation of this renowned health research centre.
Dr. Nemer's research accomplishments have brought her a large number of awards, including the Leo Pariseau Prize in Biological Sciences and Health Sciences from ACFAS in 2003 and the Jeanne Manery Fisher Award from the Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology's in 2002. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Cell Differentiation.
About National Cheng Kung University.
With three quarters of a century of distinguished history, with well over 120,000 powerful alumni now dotting the globe, many have achieved supreme successes in arts, business, education, science, technology and healthcare and are ready and willing to assist, with 20,000 academic selective students and 1100 academic significant faculty members currently, both have healthy dosage of international flavor, with enormous regional support, and with a permeating culture of proactive intellectual growth on the world’s stage, NCKU in Tainan, Taiwan, has evolved from its engineering genesis to become a powerful comprehensive, research and international university in Asia Pacific.
For further information contact: NCKU Press Officer Wei-Chen Huang at 06-2757575 ext. 50042 or email: weichen@mail.ncku.edu.tw
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