Academia Sinica head Chen Chien-jen receives NTU Distinguished Alumni Award

Resumen detallado

Academia Sinica President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who helped strengthen Taiwan's disease-control system following the 2003 SARS outbreak, received National Taiwan University's (NTU) Distinguished Alumni Award on Sunday.

Taipei, Nov. 15 (CNA) Academia Sinica President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who helped strengthen Taiwan's disease-control system following the 2003 SARS outbreak, received National Taiwan University's (NTU) Distinguished Alumni Award on Sunday.

Speaking on behalf of the nine recipients at a ceremony marking NTU's 98th anniversary, Chen said he hoped to continue being "the salt of the earth and the light of the world," a biblical expression referring to the role of believers in society.

Chen, who served as Taiwan's vice president from 2016 to 2020, is an epidemiologist known for his research on Blackfoot disease, chronic arsenic poisoning and liver cancer.

Recalling his student days at NTU, he said his education had given him not only professional knowledge but also values such as integrity, diligence and a commitment to serving the country and its people.

Drawing on his experience as a scientist in public service, Chen said decisions should be based on scientific evidence rather than being unduly influenced by political considerations.

He said disease-control measures and institutional reforms introduced during the 2003 SARS outbreak proved valuable when COVID-19 emerged in 2019, providing an important foundation for Taiwan's pandemic response.

Chen earned a master's degree in public health from NTU's Graduate Institute of Public Health in 1977 and has devoted much of his career to research in epidemiology, environmental health and public health, according to Academia Sinica.

In a statement issued Sunday, the academy said Chen received the award in the academic category, one of five categories under NTU's Distinguished Alumni Award program.

His pioneering research on Blackfoot disease and chronic arsenic poisoning helped establish scientific evidence linking exposure to arsenic-contaminated drinking water with health risks and provided an important basis for drinking-water safety standards, the academy said.

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