Program

Executive Summary：
Dr Sung-Tsang Hsieh graduated from National Taiwan University for his MD and completed neurology resident training at National Taiwan University Hospital. He got Neuroscience PhD at Johns Hopkins University and did postdoc at Neurology of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Currently Dr Hsieh is an attending neurologist at National Taiwan University Hospital and holds professorship at Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology of National Taiwan University. Dr Hsieh is a pioneer in developing skin biopsy and quantifying skin nerves as a pathologic signature of small-diameter nociceptive nerve degeneration. This skin biopsy approach has become the gold standard to diagnose small fiber neuropathy. With this achievement, he is one of the members in the Skin Biopsy Task Force of European Federation of Neurological Societies and was elected as a Fellow of American Academy of Neurology. Since pain due to small fiber neuropathy is potentially attributed to maladaptive brain responses, over the last decade, Dr Hsieh and his team have developed integrated assessment system of small fiber neuropathy incorporating quantitative sensory testing, contact heat evoked potential (CHEP), and heat-activated functional MRI. Hereditary transthyreting amyloidosis (ATTRv) is one of the etiologies causing small fiber neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction and Dr Hsieh’s group identified a unique genotype of transthyretin (TTR) A97S as the major etiology of Taiwanese with ATTRv. Furthermore, Dr Hsieh and colleagues established the first brain bank in Taiwan to investigate the mechanisms and therapeutic targets of rare disease and neurodegneration.