Taipei Neuroscience Institute Superintendent Yong-Kwang Tu wins Taiwan Medical Contribution Award

“The power of one person is limited, but a group of people can create profound and far-reaching influence.”

Upholding the spirit of allowing all human access to better treatment of neurological diseases, Superintendent Yong-Kwang Tu (杜永光) of Taipei Medical University’s Taipei Neuroscience Institute has been dedicating himself to research and education in neurosurgery technology for more than 40 years. In 2021, he was awarded the Taiwan Medical Contribution Award by the Taiwan Medical Association.

Superintendent Tu has performed more than 10,000 brain tumor and cerebrovascular-related surgeries. Among these cases, many are the most difficult operations in Asia, the first of its kind in Taiwan or even in the world. Being an established neurosurgeon, Superintendent Tu is known for his extreme professionalism. Even when he had operations until midnight the day before, he would still be full of energy when he shows up in the office the next day.

Superintendent Tu has been educating future neurosurgeons throughout this career, teaching students and residents basic suturing skills as well as complex surgery practices. Believing in the power of teamwork, Superintendent Tu dedicated himself to building the “integrated” Taipei Neuroscience Institute encompassing expertise in neurology, surgery, and radiology through regular discussions. Now, specialists from different areas meet every week to keep each other in the abreast of latest updates, and an overall follow-up of cases from TMU’s three affiliated hospitals is conducted every month. He enthusiastically calls on everyone to share their expertise and experience, contributing to the collective improvement and development of skills and knowledge of members of the Institute.

Superintendent Tu has successively served as the president of the Asian Australasian Society of Neurological Surgeons and the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies over a decade. He is tireless in his efforts to improve the standard of neurosurgery in the countries and regions in need. Given the serious shortage of neurosurgeons in Africa, Superintendent Tu’s “Africa One Hundred” project set up three local training centers, aiming to training 100 neurosurgeons in ten years for them to continue cascading skills and knowledge to fellow neurosurgeons in their hometowns.

The nervous system is extremely complex, which makes treatment very difficult, and even with successful treatment, patients may not be able to return to their prior state of health. Superintendent Tu believes that “prevention is more effective than treatment.” Therefore, he established the Taiwan Brain Disease Foundation, which has an active outreach program to raise awareness of the prevention of neurological diseases and offers free stroke screening in rural areas. A portion of the funds raised by the foundation goes to subsidizing further education for doctors and encouraging them to engage in neuro-related research. These once again shows the consistency of Superintendent Tu’s lifelong conviction – “bringing together strengths so that everyone can have better neurological treatment!”

Superintendent Yong-Kwang Tu (杜永光) of the Taipei Neuroscience Institute holding the Taiwan Medical Contribution Award trophy.