RTI to Host Taiwan Minister of Health, Wen-Ta Chiu (August 30, 2011)

RTI staff members and visitors are invited to a presentation by the Taiwan Minister of Health, Wen-Ta Chiu, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the O8 Building Multipurpose Room.

Dr. Chiu—a highly distinguished neurosurgeon, medical researcher, academic leader and public health advocate—will discuss the impact of health information technology on public health in Taiwan.

Using its advanced IT capability, Taiwan issued in 2004 universal health insurance smart cards that carry patient medical records, and a national medical image exchange is under way. Chiu will speak to the benefits of extending e-health services and data integration, as well as the improvement in quality of care, health promotion and disease prevention. 

Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences (SSES) Executive Vice President Wayne Holden will host and moderate the discussion. Lunch will be served.

To register, staff members should visit RTI University (login required). A phone line will also be available at 888-706-0584, access code 4595602. External guests should register by e-mailing Elaine McQueen at mcqueen@rti.org.

Dr. Chiu was appointed to his cabinet post as the Minister of Health in February, 2011. His priorities include improving quality of care, promoting health equity, encouraging healthy lifestyles, preventing injury and disease, and advancing health-care reform.

Prior to his appointment, Dr. Chiu had been the president of Taipei Medical University since 2008. Previously, he served as superintendent of Shuang Ho Hospital, professor at Taipei Medical University, superintendent of Wan Fang Hospital, chief of neurosurgery, director of the Biomedical Informatics Center, and dean of the School of Public Health.

Widely regarded for his accomplishments as a head-injury researcher, Dr. Chiu developed the world’s largest head-injury registry and promoted the adoption of helmet laws, which dramatically reduced the rate of motorcycle-related deaths in Taiwan.

Dr. Chiu is a primary investigator for the Center for Health Policy Research and Development of the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan. He is also president of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health, the Academy for Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatology, the Taiwan Neurotrauma Society and the Asia Oceania Neurotrauma Society.

Dr. Chiu’s leadership in public health has garnered many awards, including a Contribution Award from the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health in 2007 and a Health Services Medal from the Taiwan Department of Health in 2009.

Dr. Chiu received his master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from the University of Pittsburgh; doctoral degree in neuroscience from Nihon University in Tokyo; and M.D. from Chung-Shan Medical College in Taiwan. He was a research fellow in neurosurgery at Stanford University.