The 2^nd "Yung Hsin Group Tien Te Lee Medicinal Technology Award" held its presentation ceremony on May 31^st. NTU's School of Pharmacy Professor Ji-Wang Chern won the Award together with N.T. 1 million in prizes with his outstanding research on "The virtual Screening of New Drugs" which met with unanimous approval of the judges.

  Professor Ji-Wang Chern utilized the computer to conduct virtual screening of new drugs, and allowed the "hit rate" to rise up to 5%. Compared with the past when researchers had to formulate chemical compounds on their own, and on the average only one out of twenty thousand chemical compounds could evolve into a new drug, Professor Chern's achievement is considered as a major breakthrough in medicinal technology.

  Professor Ji-Wang Chern has committed himself to the R & D of new drugs for a long time. The method he used was: using simulative computer software to conduct deductive analyses of known chemical compounds, and then screening by large volumes the various databases using the results of the analyses in order to search for chemical compounds that abounded in curative effects. Finally, he tried to strengthen the effects of the drugs by using traditional new drugs development methods to modify, and synthesize the chemical compounds, actively testing them on live human beings or animals.

  According to Professor Chern, by using this methodology he was able to find chemical compounds that could effectively inhibit the virus DNA of hepatic C, and greatly enhance the potentials of developing them into new drugs.

  The purpose for the establishment of "Yung- Hsin Group Tien Te Lee Medicinal Technology Award" was to encourage Taiwanese nationals to engage in medical and medicinal research and development work, and to award those with outstanding achievements with a view toward promoting the R & D standards and the international medical standings of Taiwan. The selection Process of the Award is very rigorous, and winners of the Award are usually leaders with outstanding achievements in the various fields of medical and medicinal research.

  The theme of this year's Award was "continuous innovation, and uninterrupted heritage", hoping that medicinal research can be passed on from generation to generation with cumulative effects by defining innovation as the basis, and sustainable heritage as the mission. That Professor Chern was able to win the Award with his long term research on the virtual screening of new drugs not only proves that he is well deserved of the , Award, but also epitomizes the spirit of the Award which can be summarized by "continuous innovation, and uninterrupted heritage."

Personal Website of Professor Ji-Wang Chern:
http://jwc1.mc.ntu.edu.tw/JWC_Web/chinese/_templates/personal.htm