UC Davis Delegation to Taiwan

On November 24, 2007, UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef and Professor William Lucas, Chair of the Department of Plant Biology led a delegation to Taiwan to lay the groundwork for an academic exchange program with the National Chung Hsing University (NCHU). Accompanying Chancellor Vanderhoef and Professor Lucas were Professor Ken Burtis, Dean of the College of Biological Science, Professor Winston Ko, Dean of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Professor Neal Van Alfen, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Jackie Gervay-Hague, professor of chemistry, Bryan M. Jenkins, professor, biological and agricultural engineering and Dr. Robert Kerr, Assistant Vice Provost. Representing the Center of Excellent in Nutritional Genomics was director and professor of molecular and cellular biology, Raymond Rodriguez. In addition to meetings with key administrators and faculty at the NCHU, the UC Davis delegation met with representatives at the Academia Sinica, the Taiwan Ministry of Education and the National Taiwan University. The delegation also participated in the Third International Symposium on Biocatalysis and Biotechnology at the NCHU on November 28-29, 2007. Three members of the delegation made presentations at the symposium. Professor Rodriguez made a presentation entitled “Genomic Transduction and the Diet-Gene Paradox: Implications for Nutritional Genomics and Foods for Health.” Professor Jenkins spoke on “Prospects for Bioenergy in California: Potentials and Challenges for Sustainable Development” and Professor Gervay-Hague presented a lecture entitled “Funtionalized Nanoplatforms as Decoys for Viral Attachment and Localization.” The delegation also had an opportunity to visit sites of national and historical importance in Taiwan including Sun Moon Lake, the Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Taichung and Taipei 101 building in Taipei.