Academician of Academia Sinica Dr. Ding-Shinn Chen has been awarded the 2009 International Recognition Award by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) for his outstanding contributions to the research and management of liver diseases. Dr. Chen will receive the award during a ceremony at the General Assembly of the 44th Annual Meeting of EASL in Copenhagen on April 24.

EASL is a leading European association in the field of liver research which was founded in 1966. It currently has 28 members. Recent annual meetings have attracted more than 7000 participants from all over the world.

Dr. Chen is Distinguished Chair Professor (特聘教授,臺大講座), at the Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine National Taiwan University where he specializes in hepatology. The research of Dr. Chen and his colleagues has contributed to understanding of the natural history of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the early detection and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma as well as the prevention of HBV infection. His achievements also extend to the development of a new and effective treatment for chronic hepatitis C. The combination therapy of interferon and ribavirin has become a standard treatment worldwide.

Professor Chen was elected Academician of Academia Sinica in 1992, a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences in 2001 and Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2005. He was President of the International Association for the Study of the Liver (2004-2006) and in 2007 he earned the Presidential Science Prize of Taiwan.