President Yang donated the Royalties on His Second Book "Yuxin's Anthology" to the "Fund for Realizing Dreams" at Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU)

On March 26, CHUN-YUH YANG, the President of KMU held a book launch for his second book, "Yuxin's Anthology". This book contains 54 short commentaries published by President Yang in the newspaper forum from 2018 to 2021, that commented on the current affairs using examples from historical events. The writing is filled with humanistic concerns.

This book was recommended by CHIEN-JEN CHEN, the former vice president of Taiwan, and ERIC K. CHEN, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of KMU. President Yang will donate all royalties from the book to the "Fund for Realizing Dreams" at KMU to help economically disadvantaged students to study at ease. The publisher, Chuliu Book Co., Ltd, also intends to donate 3% of the sales from the book to KMU to promote public welfare.

Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) Student Lorraine Tong Became the First "Medical Student" in Taiwan to Publish an Article in The New England Journal of Medicine

LORRAINE TONG, a fifth-year medical student at (KMU), published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), making her the youngest author and the first medical student in Taiwan to publish a paper in this top medical journal.

The case report titled “Pneumatosis Intestinalis in Necrotizing Enterocolitis”, submitted by Lorraine Tong, is a clinical case treated by her supervisor, YU-TANG CHANG, M.D., Ph.D., an Associate Professor at KMU. The case is a classic teaching material in Prof. Chang’s class due to the particularity as well as the documentation of the clear and complete medical images. To cultivate the students' ability of clinical reasoning, Prof. Chang asked the students to write up their learning as a medical case report. Lorraine Tong studied and sorted out the medical images and records provided by Prof. Chang in just five days and wrote a concise and accurate case report. After discussing with Prof. Chang and a thorough review by the NEJM, Lorraine Tong’s case report paper was published in NEJM this March.

Kitchen Fumes Don't Just Cause Lung Adenocarcinoma. Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) Has Invented the Fume Absorption Barrel to Reduce Cooking Associated Pollution

Lung cancer is the number one cause of death among cancer patients in Taiwan. However, in Taiwan, more than half of lung cancer patients are non-smokers, and more than 90% of female lung cancer patients are non-smokers. Research paper published by the KMU Research Center for Environmental Medicine indicates that chefs for Chinese style cuisine who have worked for more than five years are twice as likely as non-Chinese cuisine chefs to develop lung adenocarcinoma, and female Chinese cuisine chefs are up to five times more likely to develop the disease. In addition to lung adenocarcinoma, the risks of developing breast cancer and colorectal cancer among female Chinese cuisine chefs who had worked for more than five years are 1.74 times and 2.39 times, respectively, higher than that of female non-Chinese cuisine chefs, suggesting the adverse impacts of fumes associated with Chinese style cooking on human health.

To solve the problem related to the cooking related health issue, Associate Professor CHIUNG-YU PENG and her research team at the KMU Research Center for Environmental Medicine have developed a "simple and economical fume absorption barrel " that enhances the fit between the aluminum duct and the collection barrel of the exhaust hood. "Hypochlorous acid water" and "oil pollution adsorption filter" are incorporated into the barrel to absorb and capture the pollutants in the cooking fume. After barrel installation, it is found that the aldehyde contents can be reduced by 55% - 76%. The cost of making a fume absorption barrel is around NT$2,000-4,000, and the cost of replacing hypochlorous acid water and oil pollution adsorption filter is about NT$300-500. No additional power is required for the fume absorption barrel, since it is activated by the original exhaust hood’s driving mechanism. All these ideas have been designed in favor of the food vendors. These research results have been published in the internationally renowned journal "Environmental Research" to help countries worldwide with fume pollutants associated with cooking. Moreover, KMU has made the production method available on its website (https://reurl.cc/6Ee7rr) for people who may want to make the barrel by themselves.