Research and Innovation

Research at the Center is organized around five strategic priorities: identification of diagnostic and predictive biomarkers; integration of basic and clinical investigation; multi-omics for precision medicine; artificial intelligence in rheumatology; and investigator-initiated clinical trials, including cell-based therapies.

A flagship achievement is the “Anti-Inflammation Chip” (智抗炎), a precision-medicine diagnostic that combines whole-genome sequencing, peptidomics, exosomal profiling, and microRNA analysis with machine-learning algorithms to predict individual response to TNF inhibitors and JAK inhibitors in rheumatoid arthritis. The platform won the 21st National Innovation Award in 2024, has been filed with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and is now being adapted into laboratory-developed tests in partnership with CMUH's central laboratory.

A second major program is the Center's Phase I/IIa investigator-initiated trial of allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) for refractory or rapidly progressive CTD-ILD, approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare in December 2022. As of December 2024, four CTD-ILD patients have received AD-MSC therapy under this protocol, with the trial scheduled to complete in 2026 and with technology transfer to a system-affiliated company already arranged. The program represents one of the first stem-cell trials worldwide targeted specifically at connective-tissue-disease-associated lung fibrosis.

Other active research streams include translational work on exosomal microRNAs as therapeutic targets in CTD-ILD, the pathogenic role of neutrophil extracellular traps in adult-onset Still's disease, the immunogenetics of inflammatory myopathies (with particular attention to TIF1 and NXP2 in cancer-associated myositis), gut microbiota studies in spondyloarthropathies, dysregulated lipoprotein subfractions in atherosclerosis-related markers across rheumatic disease, and large-scale real-world analyses of cardiovascular and malignancy risk in rheumatoid arthritis drawn from the hospital's Hai-Yun data warehouse. The Center participates in 14–15 international multi-center clinical trials annually and leads at least one investigator-initiated trial each year. Sustained extramural funding from Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council—including a three-year industrial-collaboration grant on a Precision Test Kit for the Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis—anchors this portfolio.

Faculty publications appear regularly in journals including The Lancet Rheumatology, Arthritis & Rheumatology, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Rheumatology (Oxford), and Frontiers in Immunology. Several Center faculty are listed among the world's top two percent of scientists in the Stanford-Elsevier global ranking.

Education and Training

As an APLAR Center of Excellence, the Center is a teaching institution at every level. We host medical students from China Medical University, internal-medicine residents, fellows in rheumatology and clinical immunology, master's and doctoral candidates, and postdoctoral researchers in immunology and translational medicine.

Our structured fellowship program offers three tracks: hands-on patient care with case-based learning, communication-skills development, and integration of imaging into bedside diagnosis; musculoskeletal ultrasound training spanning didactic teaching, hands-on workshops, and image interpretation; and clinical research training with an emphasis on translational science, biomarker assays, flow cytometry, and manuscript writing. The Center welcomes fellows of the APLAR Fellowship Programme and the APLAR-CoE Exchange Programme, providing tuition-free training, accommodation and local transport, and a daily living stipend for visiting fellows.

We use a blended education model that combines problem-oriented case discussion, project-based learning, simulation, Direct Observation of Procedural Skill (DOPS) and Mini-CEX assessment, and interactive digital tools. Six core competencies—medical knowledge, patient care, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, system-based practice, and practice-based learning—anchor every track. Faculty have been recognized with Outstanding Teaching Awards and Excellent Educator designations at both CMUH and China Medical University.

International Recognition and Collaboration

The Center is a reference center for APLAR clinical guidelines and contributes actively to international consensus statements. We have also been invited to participate in the Newsweek World's Best Specialized Hospitals ranking process, with the goal of placing among the Asia-Pacific top 100 in rheumatology. We collaborate on translational projects with research groups in Japan, Korea, France, and the United States, and have received visiting fellows and short-term research trainees from regional partners including National Cheng Kung University Hospital and Taichung Veterans General Hospital.

Looking Forward

Our roadmap for the coming five years builds directly on the strengths above. Clinically, we aim to consolidate the Center's role as the leading Asia-Pacific care hub for autoimmune ILD and pulmonary hypertension, expand our cell-therapy portfolio from CTD-ILD into lupus nephritis, systemic sclerosis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and pilot CAR-T cell approaches for refractory autoimmune disease. In research, we will continue translating the Anti-Inflammation Chip and exosome-based diagnostics into commercial assays through industry-academia partnerships, while maintaining a steady output of high-impact publications. Educationally, we will scale international exchange and dispatch faculty for short-term overseas training to deepen our networks across the region.