TAIWAN
Organisation: National Health Research Institutes
(NHRI), Miaoli, Taiwan
Background information on the organisation
 Mission statement
NHRI is to take forward the task-oriented medical and health research, to
improving medical and health standards, to develop medical technology,
and training and cultivate biomedical researchers.

Organisational status
There are six Institutes, two Divisions, and two Research Centers in NHRI.
Institutes
 National Institute of Cancer Research
 Institute of Cellular and System Medicine
 The Regenerative Medicine Research Group
 The Cardiovascular & Metabolic Medicine Research Group
 The Age-Related Disease Research Group
 Institute of Population Sciences
 Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
 Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research
 Division of Mental Health and Addiction Medicine
 Division of Geriatric Research
 Division of Clinical Trial Statistics
 Division of Health Policy Translation
 Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research
 Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine
 National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
 Division of Infectious Diseases
 Vaccine Research and Development Center
Divisions
 Division of Environmental Health & Occupational Medicine
 Division of Medical Engineering Research
Centers
 Center for Nanomedicine Research
 Immunology Research Center
Research Resources
The NHRI sets up core facilities such as Cell Bank, Digital Library and
Bioinformatics, to meet the needs of intramural research programs and to
provide services to medical centers and research institutions. Research
resources at the NHRI are listed as follows:

National Health Insurance Research Database: NHRI was entrusted
by the Bureau of National Health Insurance to manage the research use of
the bureau’s database.

NHRI Cell Bank: This joint venture with Food Industry Research and
Development Institute was established in 1998 to provide high-quality cell
strains.

National Health Interview Survey: Every four years NHRI and the
Bureau of Health Promotion conduct this national survey on the health
status of Taiwan’s citizenry. The survey was first conducted in 2001.

Bioinformatics Services: NHRI provides scientists with comprehensive
and timely services in bioinformatics, such as analytical tools, mirror sites,
and training.
Core Facilities
 DNA Sequencing Core Lab
 Optical Biology Core
 Pathology Core
 Cell Sorter Core Lab
 Microarray Core Lab
 Live Cell Image core Lab
 Protein Chemistry Core Lab
 Core Shared Facilities
Taiwan Cooperative Oncology Group (TCOG)
TCOG is the first organization in Taiwan to conduct multi-center clinical trials in
cancer treatment. Its tasks are to utilize patient resources effectively, ensure
the safety and ethics of clinical trials, and establish therapies through a
cautious monitoring system. Currently, TCOG has 24 affiliated hospitals
serving more than 90% of Taiwan’s cancer patients.
The primary aims of TCOG are:

to promote high-quality clinical research

to facilitate multi-center oncology trials

to improve cancer treatment and care

to develop new modalities of treatment

to set up clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of
cancer

Remit
The National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), Taiwan is a non-profit
foundation established by the government with its organization charter
created by an Act of Congress (Legislative Yuan) and signed in 1995.
Being an autonomous research organization under the supervision of the
Department of Health, Executive Yuan, NHRI is dedicated to the
enhancement of medical research and the improvement of health care in
Taiwan.

web link to organisation’s home page
National health Research Institutes:
http://www.nhri.org.tw/NHRI_WEB/nhriw001Action.do
Annual research budget:
TWD $3,000,000,000 (USD $10,000,000) annually in National Health Research
Institutes, Taiwan
Stem cell budget
Approximately 60 million dollars (TWD) from National Science Council to fund
individual stem cell-related research grants. In addition, there is separate budget
from National Science Council to fund integrated grant proposals.
Individual Stem Cell Research Grant
Year
Number of Grants
Annual Budget (in USD)
2006
41
1,584,700
2007
37
1,691,800
2008
36
1,607,700
2009
45
1,971,600
2010
44
1,986,200
2011
47
1,955,300
Total
250
Stem cell strategy
10,797,300
Key stem cell centres/investments (and websites) – up to 10
National Health Research Institutes:
http://www.nhri.org.tw/NHRI_WEB/nhriw001Action.do
Stem Cell and Regenerative Research Office website:
http://stemcell.mc.ntu.edu.tw/office/zh-tw/news.php
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
Recent research achievements and outputs
Using the National Health Research Institutes Institutional Repository to search
the publications.
http://ir.nhri.org.tw/
New funding initiatives
Currently, there are seven National Flagship Programs for Stem Cell Research
funded by National Science Council, including
(1) Signaling Molecules for Stem Cell Survival, Proliferation and Differentiation;
(2) Signal Pathways and Epigenetic Regulation of Stem Cells;
(3) Transgenesis, Differentiation and Epigenetic Regulation of Human Embryonic
Stem cells and Germline;
(4) Specific Markers, Pluripotency and Epigenetic Control in Stem Cells;
(5) Study of Bio-mechanisms of Placental-derived Multipotent Stem Cell Therapy
in Animal Disease Models;
(6) Translational Research on Medical applications of iPS cells and Mesenchymal
Stem Cells; and
(7) Development of Novel Hyaluronan-based Tissue Gels for Stem Cell
Transplantation.
New funding for Priority Stem Cell Research Program with a budget of 80 million
dollars is scheduled to begin by the year end of 2011.
Changes to stem cell related policies
No
National (or regional) stem cell network or contact point
Taiwan Stem Cell Bank
Taiwan Stem Cell Bank (TSCB) is situated and integrated in the Bioresource
Collection and Research Center (BCRC), which is a publicly accessed biomaterial
repository in Taiwan. TSCB has opened in December 2009 and focused on the
service platform of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent
stem cells (iPSC). As the only government-funded bioresource center, TSCB has
endeavored in the best characterized and high-quality control of collected human
embryonic stem cell lines. As a phase I project (July 2008-Dec 2009), TSCB,
under the supervision by a Stem Cell Steering Committee, (1) finished the
construction and validation of a GLP-compliant cell culture/processing facility, (2)
collected eight human embryonic stem cell lines from two Taiwan groups (Dr.
Hsin-Fu Chen of National Taiwan University and Dr. Maw-Shen Lee of ChungShan Medical University), (3) set up the standards of procedures (SOPs) of hESC
cultivation and characterization based on International Stem Cell Initiatives (ISCI
I) standards, (4) participated the activities of International Stem Cell Banking
Initiatives (ISCBI), and (5) provided the training courses of basic hESC
techniques. Most of the services are opened to public access through TSCB
website, including the depository and distribution of hESC lines. Our major
research is focusing on the improvement of cryopreservation techniques for these
clumping cells in frozen state.
Following the development of iPS technology, TSCB also included the
establishment and depository of iPSC recently, especially from the rare diseasederived fibroblasts and prenatal abnormal amniotic fluid cells. TSCB also
participates in many collaborating pluripotent stem cell line establishment and/or
contracted services concerning the characterization and cryopreservation of these
cells.
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Bioresource Collection and Research Center (BCRC)
http://www.bcrc.firdi.org.tw
▪
Taiwan Stem Cell Bank (TSCB)
http://tscb.bcrc.firdi.org.tw
Other major funders of stem cell research in your country
▪
National Science Council (NSC)
http://web1.nsc.gov.tw/
Helpful web-links:
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National health Research Institutes:
http://www.nhri.org.tw/NHRI_WEB/nhriw001Action.do
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Taiwan Stem Cell Bank (TSCB) website:
http://tscb.bcrc.firdi.org.tw/index.do
▪
National Science Council (NSC) website :
http://web1.nsc.gov.tw/
▪
Stem Cell and Regenerative Research Office website:
http://stemcell.mc.ntu.edu.tw/office/zh-tw/news.php