2024 Annual Meeting

NCTPASS 2024 Annual Symposium  (北卡台灣產學交流協會 2024 年會)

** The registration fee will supplement the cost of coffee, water, morning pastries, and lunch. 


PHOTOS

PROGRAM

8:30 - 9:00 Registration, Coffee, Light Breakfast 報到

Receptionists: Hsiang Hung, Ariel Lin, Cynthia Su 

9:00 - 9:10 Opening Remarks  開場、董事致詞

Dr. Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, MD, PhD 計仁昌醫師、博士
 Board of Director, NCTPASS,
Professor, Molecular Genetics,
Duke University

9:10 - 9:35 Overview of Alzheimer’s Disease and Progress in Drug Trials

Dr. Yi-Ju Li, PhD 李怡如博士

Professor, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University

9:35 - 10:00 Emerging Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis 

Dr. Jerry Wang, MD, PhD 王時修醫師、博士
 Assistant Professor, Pathology
 Duke University 

10:00 - 10:30 Group Photo, Networking with coffee/tea 與會者合照、交流

10:30 - 10:55 Modifiable Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease 

Dr. Albert Liu, MD 劉玠暘醫師
 Postdoctoral Fellow, Epidemiology
 University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill

10:55 - 11:20 Eye Health in Dementia and Neurodegeneration

Dr. Henry Tseng, MD, PhD 曾顯鈞醫師、博士
 Associate Professor, Ophthalmology
 Duke Eye Center

11:20 - 11:50 Panel Discussion and Q&A for Alzheimer's Disease

Panelists: all speakers

11:50 - 1:30 Lunch, Networking 午餐、與會者交流

(1:00 - 1:30) NCTPASS Business meeting 協會事務會議

1:35 - 2:00 Dissecting the Impact of Lipid Asymmetry on Glial Ferroptosis 

Ke Zoe Shan 單可
 Cell Biology
Duke University

2:00 - 2:30 Observing the Role of Data Papers in Scholarly Communication from the Motivation of Nature Scientist' Work Submission

Pao-Pei Huang
 Physics
UNC Chapel Hill

2:30 - 3:00 Functional Characterization of Regulatory Regions Using Genome-Wide Functional Screens and Chromatin Interactions

Kuei-Yueh Ko 柯逵悅
 Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Duke University

3:15 - 3:50 Panel Discussion: Career Development from Academia to Industry

Chair:
Ya-Ke Grace Wu, PhD, RN 吳雅歌博士
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing,
UNC Chapel Hill
 Panelists:
Dr. Chris Basten, Retired Scientific Fellow, Syngentia
Mr. Arthur Geeng, Director, WWRC USA Inc. 耿遵瑜先生
Dr. Ming-Feng Hsueh, Assistant Professor, Orthopedics, UNC Chapel Hill 薛銘鋒博士

3:50 - 4:00 Closing Remarks  閉幕致詞

Dr. Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, MD, PhD 計仁昌醫師、博士
 Board of Director, NCTPASS,
Professor, Molecular Genetics,
Duke University

SPEAKERS

Dr. Yi-Ju Li

李怡如博士

Professor, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University

Overview of Alzheimer's Disease and Progress in Drug Trials

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a brain disorder in older adults, with the majority of disease onset at age 65 years and later. AD is characterized by progressive cognitive decline due to the damage of neurons in the brain that govern memory, language, and thinking. In this talk, I will provide an overview of AD research, current FDA-approved drugs for AD, and the clinical trials leading to the approval of Lecanemad and Donanemad that aim to slow the AD progression. 

Dr. Jerry Wang

王時修醫師、博士

Assistant Professor, Pathology, Duke University

Emerging Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a clinical-pathological entity characterized by an amnestic syndrome and confirmed at death by the presence of Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologic changes. However, recent developments in imaging and fluid biomarkers have made antemortem AD diagnosis possible and shifted our focus to early detection and intervention. In this presentation, I will discuss the core biomarkers used to detect amyloid (A), tau (T), and neurodegeneration (N), how the AT(N) framework is applied to the diagnosis of AD, and the ongoing search for better biomarkers for AD and related dementias (ADRD).

Dr. Albert Liu

劉玠暘醫師

Postdoctoral Fellow, Epidemiology, UNC-Chapel Hill

Modifiable Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Henry Tseng

曾顯鈞醫師、博士

Associate Professor, Ophthalmology, Duke Eye Center

Eye Health in Dementia and Neurodegeneration

Having evolved as a direct extension of the brain, the eyes contain neurons that may share the same pathology as brain neurons in patients with dementia and neurodegenerative disease. Yet visual function and eye health are often overlooked in these patients. Visual impairment interferes with cognitive function and thus exacerbates dementia symptoms. Thus, improving visual function is a critical part of treating dementia and enhancing cognitive function. In addition, specific eye neurons, such as retinal ganglion cells, form a direct connection between the eye and deep structures of the brain. These neurons degenerate in eye diseases such as glaucoma. Recent data are revealing common molecular pathological mechanisms that are shared between glaucoma and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Using these retinal ganglion cells as biomarkers can lead to the development of non-invasive diagnostic technology to detect brain neurodegeneration and monitor responses to novel drug therapies.