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Dr. Joseph Loscalzo from Harvard Medical School visited NCKU at Oct. 13th

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Tainan, TAIWAN, Oct. 13th
Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, the Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine and the Chairman of the Department of Medicine of Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Physician-in-Chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a globally recognized expert in the field of nitric oxide (NO) signal pathway and cardiovascular research as well as in the professional training of physician-scientists, a member of the Institute of Medicine, of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the Editor‐in‐chief of Circulation, and a senior editor of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, visited Academician Michael Ming-Chiao Lai (賴明詔), President of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in the morning of Oct. 13th.

Dr. Joseph Loscalzo shared his experience about medical education development with President Lai. They both agreed to extend and continue any possible cooperation in the future. Dr Joseph Loscalzo commented that he had to do the research projects, cure his patients, and train the physician-scientists simultaneously. President Lai praised that Dr Joseph Loscalzo is not only a doctor but also a scholar. “I am too busy after becoming NCKU president; I do not have time do to research now,” said President Lai.

On Dr. Loscalzo’s itinerary to Taiwan, he visited only Academia Sinica and NCKU. In Academia Sinica, he gave a public lecture at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences as “The Pathobiology of Redox Dysregulation in the Vasculature”. In his two-day trip to NCKU, he would deliver a speech on “Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: New Concepts in Pathobiology and Treatment” and share his experience in clinical education to all medical staffs and faculty of NCKU with overwhelming responses. Both Prof. Chyi-Her Lin (林其和), the Dean of NCKU College of Medicine, and Prof. Lin Pin-Wen (林炳文), the Superintendent of NCKU Hospital, expressed their much appreciation to Dr. Joseph Loscalzo for his visit. Both Prof. Lin commented that this is a great learning opportunity to all medical staffs in NCKU.

Moreover, there are four papers from NCKU to be submitted to “Circulation”. These include one, entitled “the lectin-like domain of thrombomodulin inhibits angiogenesis”, authored by Mr. Cheng-Hsiang Kuo (郭承翔) from Institute of Basic Medical Science, one entitled “Decreased Rho Kinase (ROCK) activity by angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) is associated with improved left ventricular function in patients with heart failure” and authored by Dr. Ping-Yen Liu (劉秉彥) of Internal Medicine, one entitled “Imbryonic stem cells for cardiac repair and regeneration” and authored by Dr. Sunny Sun-Kin Chan (陳燊鍵), a Postdoctoral Fellow from Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, and one entitled “Intramyocardial injection of peptide nanofibers with autologous bone marrow cells improves cardiac performance after infarction in pigs” and authored by Mr. Yi-Dong Lin (林意棟), a PhD candidate from Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Joseph Loscalzo gave them many valuable comments and must-know for their papers to be submitted to “Circulation”.

NCKU College of Medicine started the collaboration projects with HMS since 1997. There are academic exchange programs frequently going on between HMS and NCKU College of Medicine, for example, many NCKU professors and medical doctors visiting HMS for conducting joint research programs during summer vocation, and even a NCKU medical student exchanged to HMS for a month in 2007. Both institutes look forward to establishing much closer relationship not only in research programs, but also in all possible collaborative agreements.

About Dr. Joseph Loscalzo
Dr. Loscalzo received his A.B. degree, summa cum laude, his Ph.D. in biochemistry, and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. After completing his clinical training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Loscalzo joined the Harvard faculty and staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 1984. In 1994, he joined the faculty of Boston University as Chief of Cardiology, and then, in 1997, Wade Professor and Chair of Medicine, and director of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute. He returned to Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2005.

Dr. Loscalzo has received many awards, including the Clinician-Scientist Award, the
Distinguished Scientist Award, the American Heart Association’s Research Achievement Award, the National Institutes of Health’s Research Career Development Award and the George W. Thorn Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Dr. Loscalzo served as an associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine for nine years, chair of the Cardiovascular Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine, chair of the Research Committee of the American Heart Association, chair of the Scientific Board of the Stanley J. Sarnoff Society of Fellows for Research in the Cardiovascular Sciences and chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He is currently editor-in-chief of Circulation, and was chosen as one of the senior editors of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, succeeding Dr. Eugene Braunwald.

Dr. Loscalzo has been a visiting professor at many institutions, holds two honorary degrees, has authored or co-authored more than 500 scientific publications, has authored or edited 23 books, and holds 27 patents for his work in the field of nitric oxide. He is also the recipient of many grants from the NIH and industry for his work in the areas of vascular biology, thrombosis, and atherosclerosis over the past twenty-five years. Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine Chairman, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Physician‐in‐chief, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School Member, the Institute of Medicine, National Academies, U.S.A. Editor‐in‐chief, Circulation.

About Harvard Medical School (HMS)
The information is contained in http://hms.harvard.edu/public/history/history.html.

On September 19, 1782, the president and fellows of Harvard College approved President Joseph Willard’s plan to create a medical school. With a handful of students and a faculty of three, the Medical School held its first classes in Harvard Hall on the College yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later moved to Holden Hall, the former College Chapel.

Medical education in the 18th century consisted of formal lectures for a semester or two, followed by an apprenticeship with a practicing physician. No academic preparation was required, no written exams were mandatory. Students did not pay tuition. Instead, they bought tickets to each lecture. Since teaching hospitals did not exist, clinical training requirements were minimal.

The first three faculty members of the School were Benjamin Waterhouse, professor of anatomy and surgery, John Warren, professor of the theory and practice of physic, and Aaron Dextor, professor of chemistry and materia medica (pharmacology).

Dr. Waterhouse had been educated at universities and hospitals in Europe. As a result of his contacts in England, he received a publication printed there in 1798 by Edward Jenner, reporting successful vaccination against smallpox. Waterhouse introduced Jenner's ideas to the U.S. medical community and first used the vaccine on members of his own family. As a result of Waterhouse's vigorous support of smallpox vaccination, it was tested in Boston and gained acceptance in the United States.

Dr. Warren, a skilled teacher and surgeon, was instrumental in moving the Medical School to Boston, where it was more convenient for the faculty to see not only their private patients, but also patients in the military and naval hospitals and in public dispensaries being established in the city.

The Medical School moved from Cambridge to Boston in 1810. The following year, Dr. Warren's son, John Collins Warren, and James Jackson led efforts to start Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. MGH, like most hospitals founded in the 19th century, started out caring for the poor; patients who could afford medical care received it at home.

From 1816 to 1846 the Medical School was located on Mason Street. With a gift from a private bequest through the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, the School became known as the Massachusetts Medical College of Harvard University. In 1847 the School moved to North Grove Street, next door to the Bulfinch Building of MGH. In 1883 the School relocated to Boylston Street in Copley Square on the site where the new wing of the Boston Public Library now stands.

Within a few years of becoming president of Harvard in 1860, Charles Eliot established a novel curriculum at the Medical School. Admissions standards were raised, written exams and passing grades were required, new departments of basic and clinical sciences were established, a three-year degree program was introduced, and the apprenticeship system was eliminated. Harvard Medical School became a professional school of Harvard University, setting the United States standard for the organization of medical education within a university.

In 1906, the Medical School moved to Longwood Avenue in Boston where the five original marble-faced buildings that comprise the Quadrangle are still used for classrooms, research laboratories and administrative offices. At the time of the move, the Fenway was open farm and marshland. The combination of a new medical school and empty land drew hospitals to the neighborhood now known as the Longwood Medical Area.

The Medical School currently has seven basic sciences, two social sciences, and one clinical department: Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Cell Biology, Genetics, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Neurobiology, Pathology, Systems Biology, Health Care Policy, Social Medicine, and Ambulatory Care and Prevention.
Most clinical training for interns, residents, and medical students takes place at the School’s teaching affiliates: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, The CBR Institute, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, New England Primate Research Center, Schepen's Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and VA Boston Healthcare System.

The mission of Harvard Medical School is to create and nurture a diverse community of the best people committed to leadership in ending human suffering caused by disease.

In pursuit of that goal, the School has become a place of 'firsts.' Ever since the introduction of the small pox vaccination to America in 1799 by Professor Waterhouse, Harvard Medical School faculty have discovered, innovated, and made giant steps toward improving human health and medical practice, including:
• introduction of insulin to the U.S.;
• invention of the iron lung for polio patients, followed by work on the polio virus, paving the way for vaccines against polio and making the iron lung obsolete;
• mapping the visual system of the brain;
• development of the external cardiac pacemaker;
• development of artificial skin;
• first successful kidney transplant;
• initial use of direct electric current to restore the rhythm of the heart;
• discovery of the gene that causes Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
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