HomeDate: 2026-10-22
Academia Sinica President Chien-Jen Chen received the Professor Kazue K. McLaren Leadership Achievement Award on October 22 at the 57th Annual Conference of the Asia–Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) in Tainan, Taiwan. The award recognizes his pioneering contributions to epidemiology, environmental health, and the prevention and control of chronic hepatitis and cancer.
President Chen is internationally recognized for his research on Blackfoot disease, chronic arsenic poisoning, viral hepatitis, and cancer prevention. His research spans epidemiology, human genetics, public health, and preventive medicine. After returning to Taiwan in 1982 following his doctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, he conducted major epidemiological investigations into environmental exposures and disease risks. Through long-term cohort studies, his research team found associations between exposure to arsenic in drinking water and increased risks of urothelial and skin cancers. These findings provided important scientific evidence for the World Health Organization and helped inform the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2001 decision to lower its drinking water standard for arsenic from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb.
In viral hepatitis and oncology, the REVEAL-HBV study, spearheaded by President Chen, definitively linked serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) viral load to the risks of cirrhosis and liver cancer. Through decades of prospective cohort follow-up, the study established a clear dose-response relationship that transformed clinical surveillance for chronic hepatitis B and provided foundational benchmarks for international practice guidelines.
President Chen continues to advance research in precision medicine. Building on genotypic data from approximately 200,000 participants in the Taiwan Biobank, his team is undertaking large-scale plasma proteomic profiling. By integrating proteomic data with genetic and other multi-omics data and working with international research cohorts, the team aims to better understand disease-related biological mechanisms and increase the representation of East Asian populations in proteogenomic research. The Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative, a collaborative consortium between Academia Sinica and 17 hospitals across Taiwan, also integrates genetic and clinical data to accelerate the implementation of personalized healthcare in Taiwan.
Established in 1988, the Professor Kazue K. McLaren Leadership Achievement Award commemorates Professor Kazue K. McLaren, a founding member of APACPH who made significant contributions to public health education, leadership, and community health. The award recognizes individuals who demonstrate leadership in improving the health and quality of life of communities in their countries or regions. President Chen’s receipt of the award also highlights Taiwan’s contributions to global public health.
Founded in 1984 in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Asia–Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health is dedicated to promoting public health education, research, and collaboration across the Asia–Pacific region. The consortium brings together more than 110 leading public health and medical institutions in 23 countries, providing a platform for academic exchange and regional cooperation.
