KUIAS/iCeMS and CMUH Sign MoU

On January 22, representatives from KUIAS/iCeMS and China Medical University Hospital (CMUH), Taiwan, met online for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two institutions. The agreement, which follows an online symposium held last July that highlighted many topics of potential collaboration, will promote the exchange of research, faculty and students, and further encourage joint research and meetings. Oscar Lee (Deputy Superintendent, CMUH) and Jun Suzuki (Deputy Director, iCeMS) facilitated the event.

Mien-Chie Hung (President, CMU) who noted that CMUH and Kyoto University first began working together in 1987, said that the signing, “was a very meaningful milestone which showed the commitment to cooperation in science from both sides.”

Shigefumi Mori (Director-General, KUIAS) said, “since 1897 Kyoto University has contributed to harmonious coexistence as part of its mission.” He hoped that iCeMS will serve as a bridge to a wider cooperation between Kyoto University and CMU.

Der-Yang Cho (Superintendent, CMUH) and Susumu Kitagawa (Director, iCeMS) introduced their respective institutions. Both showcased strengths in research, the integration of technology and medicine, industry-academia cooperation, and social implementation of research results.

Suzuki gave an overview of iCeMS three-year journey to build connections through its Taiwan office which opened in 2019. iCeMS has an on-site laboratory, Center for Integrated Biosystems, at Academia Sinica in Taiwan, which focuses on unbiased screening in biomedical fields. Now iCeMS is establishing a Taiwan office branch at CMUH to promote strong collaboration and human exchange, and further to connect Kyoto University and its alumni in the Taichung area.

Jeff Chen (Deputy Director, iCeMS Taiwan Office), who has worked with Suzuki and Lee to explore the best ways to build connections between Kyoto University and iCeMS, said this would represent “the best medical application and the best fundamental research together, building on and supporting each other’s strengths in order to help humanity.”