APEC Workshop on Sustainable Investment and Precision Health

Personal Bio

Eugene Chien Ph.D., is the current Ambassador-at-large for Climate Change and Sustainability (Tsai Ing-wen government), and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Chen Shui-bian government). Dr. Chien is also serving as Chairman of Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy Foundation (TAISE). In addition, Dr. Chien engages in public welfare initiatives related to climate change and environmental protection.

During the Chiang Ching-kuo era, Dr. Chien was Legislator of Taipei City and the first Minister of Environmental Protection Administration. During the Lee Teng-hui period, Dr. Chien was Minister of Transportation, Representative in the UK and in the Advisory Committee of National Security Council.

Before taking office within civil services, Dr. Chien was Dean of College of Engineering at Tamkang University, and was also Chairman and Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering. In the same period, Dr. Chien hosted a technological TV show, which won the 18th Golden Bell Award.

Presentation Abstract

Promoting enterprises (including MSMEs in the value chain) to practice ESG and fulfill net zero emissions with positive encouragement, also form a platform and focuses on cross-disciplinary collaboration. Taiwan has several high-performance enterprises in the field of precision health. The challenges faced by all the industries are not issues that can be solved unilaterally. Good partnerships between sectors are key to success, enabling enterprises to obtain knowledge, technology, and professional assistance, leading to solutions that promote overall sustainable investment.

Personal Bio

Ming-Shiang Wu is the distinguished professor and superintendent in the National Taiwan University Hospital, and President of the Gastroenterological Society of Taiwan. Professor Wu graduated from the National Taiwan University College of Medicine in 1989, and obtained his PhD from the University’s Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine in 1998. After completing his internal medicine residency and gastroenterology training, he was appointed staff physician in the Division of Gastroenterology, National Taiwan University Hospital, in 1995. He has taught at his alma mater since then, gradually rising in the ranks to his present position, to which he was appointed in 2006. Professor Wu’s main areas of interest are Helicobacter pylori-associated gastroduodenal diseases and gastrointestinal malignancy. Author of more than 450 scientific papers and 3 book chapters, he is the members at the editorial boards of Gut and Gastric Cancer. He is the recipient of several academic research awards, including the Outstanding Research Award of Taiwan’s National Science Council & Ministry of Science & Technology (three times) and the Emerging Leader Award at the Asia Pacific Digestive Week 2008, for his contributions related to gastric carcinogenesis and the pathogenesis of H. pylori-related diseases.

Presentation Abstract

Medicine is a science of uncertainty but art of probability. The same symptoms may result from different diagnosis. The same diagnosis may need different treatment modalities. The same therapeutic maneuver may lead to different prognosis. The uncertainty of diagnosis, therapy and prognosis stems from that we do not understand the etiology and pathogenesis. It also arises from our incomplete enrollment of patient’s data. Take peptic ulcer as an example, stress and acid are considered the etiologic factors until the discovery of H. pylori. We cannot cure peptic ulcer by anxiolytics or acid-reducing agents but we can cure it by 2 weeks of antibiotics. The progress of genomic medicine was assumed to be the key for individual variability in manifeatation of diseases and the solution for precision medicine, especially in the diagnosis and management of malignant neoplasms. However, the gut microbiota, so-called secondary genome, can influence host’s health and disease treatment through bacteria-derived metabolites, immunity and gut-brain axis. Accordingly, investigation of host genomics and microbiomics simultaneously could lead to a better understanding of health and diseases. The big data analysis is mandatory for multiomics research. Therefore, machine learning or artificial intelligence becomes important research tools for precision or smart medicine. Deep phenotyping and deep learning are the root of deep medicine. Compared with current shallow medicine, deep medicine can provide a deeper insight into the etiology and pathogenesis through comprehensive data collection and analyses. Collectively, combining digital technologies & big data analysis with biology can provide new insights into diseases & health, leading to paradigm shift of medicine. Such alterations can relieve heavy work load of physicians and nurses. Furthermore, patient centric applications of digital technology can provide a more precise and warm care.

Personal Bio

Associate Professor Dominic Wall is Peter Mac’s Executive Director-Business Ventures, providing leadership for both existing and emerging business ventures He is also the Chief Scientific Officer of Peter Mac’s independent for-profit business Cell Therapies which manufactures cells for human therapy.

Dominic provides executive support for these businesses to flourish in a public hospital setting. He has also been involved in pathology since his training in London at University of London School of Pathology followed by a PhD at the University of Melbourne and a Founding Fellowship in the Faculty of Science in the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

Personal Bio

Personal Bio

Dr. Chih-hsing Ho, LLM, JSM, PhD is an Associate Research Fellow/ Associate Professor at the Institute of European and American Studies, and the Research Center for Information Technology Innovation (joint appointment), Academia Sinica, Taiwan. Her research focuses on the nexus of law and medicine in general, with particular attention to the governance of genomics and newly emerging technologies, such as biobanks, big data and artificial intelligence (AI). Since 2016, she has served as an Associate Editor for ELSI in Science and Genetics- Frontiers. She holds a Ph.D. in law from the London School of Economics (LSE) where she was Olive Stone Scholar and Morris Finer Scholar.

Presentation Abstract

The increasing need for transmission and linkage of health data for secondary usage has brought new challenges. The current models and privacy frameworks for the secondary use of health data focus predominately on techniques and rules of anonymization and de-identification. These data-centric perspectives fail to adequately address issues such as data control, access and sharing, and public-private partnerships, all of which are imperative to data subjects in terms of deciding how they would like their health information to be used. This talk will investigate these challenges. It aims at proposing a transparent and subject-centric data sharing model to improve the pitfalls of data-centric models for the secondary use of health data in Taiwan.

Personal Bio

Ethan Tu is most well-known as the founder of PTT, Taiwan’s largest and most popular online bulletin board system. In the US, he worked at the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop cancer detection systems and human genetic research. He also workedas Microsoft’s Director of Research and Development for AI in the Asia-Pacific Region for 11 years, and was a key figure in development of Microsoft’s Cortana.

In 2017, Ethan founded Taiwan AI Labs, Asia’s first open AI research organization specializing in next-generation AI solutions. AI Labs has shown significant results in medical AI/imaging applications, which contributed to the detection of Covid-19 from chest x-rays during the pandemic. He also started The Taiwan AI Federated Learning Alliance to encourage the pooling of data samples for better AI advancement while protecting privacy rights. Ethan also leads teams to develop AI solutions for drones, Smart Cities, speech and facial recognition, and the fighting of fake news.

Building people-oriented AI technologies for everyday life has been Ethan’s biggest faith and focus, which explains AI Labs’ mission: “Innovate AI in Taiwan and for The World, bring technology to meet nature and humanity, and create impacts and improvements for human well-being. “

Ethan also holds many positions in several groups and organizations.

Board of directors at Chunghwa Telecom Board of directors at Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA)

Consultant at Asia Silicon Valley Development Agency (ASVDA)

Consultant at Digital Nation & Innovative Economic Development Program (DIGI+)

Ethan Tu holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in computer science from National Taiwan University (NTU).

Presentation Abstract

1.ESG: R for Resilience

2.Global trends: zero-contact, net-zero emissions, and trustworthy algorithms at zero-trust cyberspace

3.Zero-contact: Taiwan AI Labs’s contribution in battling COVID and building resilience

a Taiwan Social Distancing App

b.Health Report App

c.AI SARS-CoV-2 Classifier

d.AI Tracing Virus Transmission tool

e.DockCoV2 for Drug Screening

f.Pubmed KB

4.Founded in 2017, Taiwan AI Labs is Asia's first open AI research institute. Taiwan AI Labs encourages the development of trustworthy algorithms with open algorithms, open source, and federated learning. In the post-pandemic era, international societies build social resilience through AI-powered solutions for frontline disease detection, medical treatment, finance, tourism, and other daily life scenarios. ESG/SDGs are two critical goals for the world to follow at the time. In the session, Ethan Tu, the founder of Taiwan AI Labs, will share with the audience how Taiwan AI Labs demonstrates AI-powered solutions in boosting resilience of the healthcare ecosystem.

Personal Bio

Philip Tagari is currently Vice President of Research (Therapeutic Discovery) at Amgen Inc., the world’s largest independent biotechnology company. His global laboratories (US, Canada, Germany, China, India) are responsible for biologics discovery, scaffold engineering, optimization and early manufacturability assessment; medicinal, oligonucleotide and peptide chemistry; protein conjugates (Ab-RNAi, peptibodies) and reagents; assay development, screening, enzymological and pharmacological characterization and profiling (in vitro), as well as structural biology, biophysics, analytical chemistry, data sciences, materials logistics and automation. His teams have advanced over 30 innovative molecules into clinical development in recent years, including sotorasib (first-in-class KRASG12C inhibitor) and AMG701 (half-life extended bispecific BCMA T-cell engager). He is board Chair for Amgen Biopharmaceutical Research and Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, a board member of MATWIN (Maturation & Accelerating Translation With Industry) in France and a Director of CQDM (Consortium Quebecois sur la Decouverte du Medicament; Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery).

Prior to joining Amgen in 1998, Philip was a Research Fellow at Merck Frosst (Canada) Inc. Philip is a graduate of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University (UK), and performed research at McGill and Oxford Universities.

Presentation Abstract

To drive the next generation of precision medicine and personalized treatment approaches, Amgen applies expertise in R&D, drug discovery, human –“omics,” emerging technology and data analytics to expand our ability to address a number of the leading causes of death and disability.

Amgen is focused on the pursuit of therapies with large effects in serious diseases. Our investments in R&D are designed to generate the next generation of medicines that treat patients in a more precise, personalized way.

R&D investments on precision medicine position Amgen for long-term success through:
1.Expanding – access to human data, molecular engineering and biology
2.Innovating – in clinical development and human genetics
3.Enhancing – application of real-world evidence (RWE)
4.Addressing – access and use at all stages of drug development
5.Committing – to support a predict and prevent model of healthcare

Over the past five years, Amgen have invested nearly $19 billion in R&D and reduced our drug development timelines by 36 months as compared to previous efforts, with the goal of bringing medicines to market safely and more quickly. More than 31,000 patients are enrolled in some 150 clinical trials around the world involving dozens of potential new Amgen medicines. More than 80% of our studies are now designed with the assistance of modeling and simulation.

Philip Tagari will introduce how Amgen discovers and delivers precision medicines in innovative drug modalities including siRNA, small molecules and bispecific antibodies precisely targeted on the specific genetic variant of metabolic diseases and genetic mutation or specific biomarker on cancer cells.

The new biomanufacturing plants were built in Singapore in 2014 and the Amgen Rhode Island 75-acre campus in 2018. This type of plants offers a highly flexible, modular design that can be replicated in future facilities and which enables Amgen to increase production capabilities reliably with greater speed, productivity, and flexibility. The equipment within the plant is portable, smaller, and disposable, which provides greater flexibility and speed when manufacturing different medicines simultaneously. This design eliminates costly and complex retrofitting inherent in standard facilities and allows the company to respond to changing demands with better agility, which would ultimately impact the speed at which a medicine is available for patient access.