Dr. Pan-Chyr Yang
Academician, Academia Sinica
Professor of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University
Empowering Precision Health by Big Data: Taiwan’s Perspectives
Abstract
The dream of curing disease before it strikes—of medicine that knows you—has guided physicians for centuries. With the convergence of universal health data, multi-omics, and medical-grade AI, that dream is finally within reach.
Taiwan sits at an unusual crossroads. Decades of single-payer health records, a world-class hospital system, and a semiconductor ecosystem second to none have made it one of the few places where the data, the science, and the silicon live under one roof.
Having walked alongside this transformation as a physician-scientist, I will share what we have built so far—from AI diagnostics now shipping worldwide to novel therapeutics born from longitudinal data—and what remains unfinished. I will also be candid about the challenges that no single country can solve alone, and propose concrete fronts where Taiwan, MIT, and the global community can together make precision health a shared reality.
About
Pan-Chyr Yang, MD, PhD is an Academician of Academia Sinica and Distinguished Chair Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the College of Medicine, National Taiwan University. He also serves as Director of the YongLin Institute of Health at National Taiwan University.
Dr. Yang's distinguished career spans academia, clinical leadership, and national policy. He served as President of National Taiwan University (2013–2017), Dean of the College of Medicine (2007–2013), and Superintendent of the National Taiwan University Cancer Center (2011–2013). He has represented Taiwan on the Committee on Medical Science Education at the Ministry of Education and has been an Attending Physician at National Taiwan University Hospital since 1986.
His professional interests include Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Cancer Biology and Molecular Biology, Lung Cancer Genomics and Precision Medicine, and Medical Ultrasound. He has served as former President of the Formosan Medical Association and the Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Dr. Yang's honors include the 2020 Joseph W. Cullen Prevention/Early Detection Award, the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur de Français (2020), the Phi Tau Phi Outstanding Achievement Award, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2015), Academician of The World Academy of Sciences (2008), and the National Chair Professor designation from Taiwan's Ministry of Education (2007–2009). He has received Outstanding Research Awards from the National Science Council on multiple occasions.
He holds an M.D. from the College of Medicine, National Taiwan University (1979) and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University (1990).