¹Stem Cell Program, Genomics Research Center, and Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei

Correspondence: John Yu, johnyu@gate.sinica.edu.tw

Dr Yu obtained his MD degree from National Taiwan University in 1968, and PhD in Biophysics from University of Chicago in 1974. After serving as a Research Fellow at the Biological Laboratories at Harvard University, he joined Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla in 1977 and received an Established Investigatorship Award from American Heart Association. He was a pioneer in characterizing red cell membrane proteins, especially Band 3, and demonstrating their interactions with cytoskeletons. From1998-2002, he served as the director of Experimental Hematology in department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine at Scripps Research Institute, while working on the regulation of hematopoiesis and the molecular evolution of human primary leukemia. He also served in many NIH grant review committees in US for years. Since 2002 he has been appointed a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan and serves as Director of Stem Cell Biology/ Regenerative Medicine in the Genomics Research Center, and Director of the Institute of Cellular & Organismic Biology. In addition, he is an adjunct Professor at the School of Medicine, National Taiwan University. He also serves on many advisory boards concerning biomedical research and biotechnology development in Taiwan and is currently in charge of a Taiwan task force to consolidate stem cell research and promote international cooperation. He established Taiwan Society for Stem Cell Research in 2005 and was elected as the President for this society. In addition, he serves in the International hESC Guidelines Task Force, and Government Affairs Committee of ISSCR and in the Steering Committee of the Stem Cell Network for the Asia-Pacific Region. His recent research has included the identification of a rare subpopulation of lung cells with the characteristics of pulmonary stem /progenitor cells and the demonstration of their susceptibility to SARS-CoV (PNAS, 103:9530-9535; 2006) and avian flu H5N1.