Susan Shur-Fen
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Susan Shur-Fen Gau (born 1962), also known as Susan Gau, Shur-Fen Gau, Gau Shur-Fen and in Chinese:高淑芬, is a
Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...
psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
and academic with specialized in psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, preventive medicine,
occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...
, and brain and mind sciences. She is known for her perseverance and dedication to research into possible cures for mental disorders and to defense the rights for children and adolescents with
mental illnesses A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
and to clarify confusions and misunderstandings of
pediatric psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...
, and currently working as President, director,
medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, professor, vice-President, and a member at Taiwanese Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of medical genetics of National Taiwan University Hospital,
National Taiwan University Hospital The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH; ) is a medical facility located in the Zhongzheng District of Taipei, Taiwan. It started operations under Japanese rule in Daitōtei (today's Dadaocheng) on 18 June 1895, and moved to its present ...
, National Taiwan University,
IACAPAP The International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) is a non-governmental international association that advocates for the "promotion of the mental health and development of children and adolescents th ...
, and Taiwanese Psychiatric Association respectively.


Early life

She was born and raised at
Wanhua District Wanhua District, known in Taiwanese Hokkien as Báng-kah khu and historically as "Monga" or "Monka", is a district in Taipei, Taiwan. It is Taipei's oldest district. The district is home to historic buildings such as the Bangka Lungshan Temple, ...
, Taipei City where her home was located, also the place where her parents made products of mark models. By this time, she and her siblings had to assist their parents to get the production work done. Due to this reason, she had to take care of many aspects of life which, she said, ended up making her a person with good sense of time management.


Education and Career

She graduated from Yale University in 2001 with degrees in epidemiology and Ph.D.biography sketch
/ref> As being a President of Taiwanese Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and an important member in Taiwanese Psychiatric Association, she has been making effort to improve medical environment regarding psychiatry which in turn benefited not just much pediatricians but also thousands of patients and their families.


Patient right defense


Explanations to cease the tide of anti-psychiatry

In 2016, a conference was announced to be held on April in Taiwanese Legislative Yuan by a member of parliament and some people without background in psychiatry and some of whom were thought linked to Scientology, aiming to "'find new ways concerning the
ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...
treatment' while questioning the validity of the present regimen pattern". In the wake of this coming conference with its potential outcomes that could lead to ban on the use of methylphenidate which is the first-line medication used to treat primary symptoms of ADHD, she along with her colleagues and patients with their families coming all the way from corners of Taiwan stood out to demand the invitations from the MP, saying "how could a conference discussing the future of those with mental illnesses not involve trained specialists?" Subsequently, they gained access to the conferences and have their say during the conference. After all, the rights of children and adolescents with ADHD were successfully protected on grounds of
Evidence-Based Medicine Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...
.


Clarifications made in response to propaganda by media in 2015

In 2015, Central News Agency reported a study conducted by
Michigan University , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
that triggered a series of panic among the families in Taiwan. In order to clarify the elicited misunderstandings, she held a news conference to reiterate the current practice of medicine and guaranteed the safety of the treatments so that those affected no longer became socially stigmatized.


Bids to let those needing help gain further protections medically and socially

May fifth, 2017, a convention in the
Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel v ...
whose topic was to reflect on and review whether or not the primary health care providers are adequately resourced and the outlook of the policy making. Over the convention, she and her partners along campaigned for further rights and protections for the weak often those who were born with disability and poverty and called for the people to abolish prejudice against people suffering mental disorders.Press Release
/ref>


Research

She is one of the pioneers in Taiwan that started Taiwan-based research and enrolled local patients to the domestic
clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...
. Since then, Taiwanese patients' statistics were involved in many secondary thesis such as meta-analysis and
systematic review A systematic review is a Literature review, scholarly synthesis of the evidence on a clearly presented topic using critical methods to identify, define and assess research on the topic. A systematic review extracts and interprets data from publ ...
s. Much of the research she was involved in was cited into the
ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...
article on Chinese Wikipedia and are expected to continuously influence East Asian cultural sphere whose native language is Chinese and the world. Her most recent research debuted second half of 2017 revealed that nearly one-third of people below 18 years old in Taiwan suffered mental illnesses that need professional assistance. "The proportion ( prevalence) was slightly less than the United States but consistent with which in Europe.", she said during the press conference subsequent to the release of the study.


Notable publications

To date, as of late November, 2017, she has led her team members publish a series of
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
' general information called 【Doctors from NTUH visiting my home】 in the hope of spreading the general knowledge about mental illnesses to the general public to provoke people's awareness. Two books within the series were written by herself which are 【Having a Child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder】, 【Attention! A Complete Guide for Adult ADHD】.National Taiwan University Library
/ref>


Published researches involved


2019

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2018

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* * * * * * * * * * *


See also

*
List of psychiatrists This list is of notable psychiatrists. Additional lists of psychiatrists can be found at the articles List of figures in psychiatry (though not all individuals at that list are psychiatrists and medical doctors), List of fictional psychiatrists, F ...


References


Books

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External links


Shur-Fen Gau
a
National Taiwan University Hospital Department of Psychiatry

Susan Gau research team's official channel on YouTube
(in Chinese) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gau, Susan Shur-Fen 1962 births Living people Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder researchers Autism researchers Child psychiatrists Academic staff of the National Taiwan University Scientists from Taipei Taiwanese psychiatrists Taiwanese women physicians Women psychiatrists Yale University alumni