University Hospitals Strengthens Partnership With Taipei Medical University

Innovations in Neurology & Neurosurgery | Spring 2025

In November 2024, a team from the University Hospitals Neurological Institute visited Taipei Medical University(TMU). Located in the city’s Xinyi District, the esteemed private university operates four affiliate hospitals in Taiwan.

The international trip marks a reinvigoration of the partnership between TMU, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The institutions have also attained several research grants and are exploring opportunities to collaborate on advancing stroke care.

“The story has a long history because my father, Barry Hoffer, has a 40-year legacy of training Taiwanese neuroscientists,” says S. Alan Hoffer, MD, Director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Center and Co-director of the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit Program at University Hospitals and an associate professor of neurosurgery and neurology at the School of Medicine. “His very first Taiwanese student went on to become the country’s surgeon general.”

Barry Hoffer, MD, PhD, is now the Director of Research in the Department of Neurological Surgery and an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine. The Hoffer laboratory studies animal models of neurodegenerative disorders, with a focus on Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Before coming to Cleveland, Dr. Hoffer was a professor of pharmacology at the University of Colorado for 20 years before serving as a scientific director for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also holds a Chair Professorship at TMU.

International Congress Of Neurological Surgeons

The visit to TMU was part of a larger trip to the country for UH neurosurgeons invited to speak at the 17th Asian Australasian Congress of Neurological Surgeons (AACNS), held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. “Several of us were speaking at AACNS, so we planned a one-day symposium at TMU to give presentations and exchange ideas before the larger international meeting,” says Dr. Alan Hoffer.

UH Neurological Institute physicians during Taipei Medical University visit from left to right, Dr. Bambakidis, Dr. Hoffer, Dr. Amin-Hanjani and Dr. Zhou.

University Hospitals neurosurgeons who spoke at AACNS include:

• Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, MD
• Nicholas C. Bambakidis, MD
• S. Alan Hoffer, MD
• Xiaofei Zhou, MD

Ongoing International Exchange

Recently, a Taiwanese neurosurgery resident spent a month in the UH Neurological ICU and on the hospital’s neurological service. More TMU residents will follow in May, along with staff from nursing, respiratory therapy and critical care dietary services, to rotate with their UH counterparts.

“Over the past several years, we have been working toward moving beyond basic science partnerships into the clinical realm,” says Dr. Alan Hoffer. “Taiwan does not have a system of ICUs like we have in the United States [U.S.], so we are helping them establish their neurocritical care services.”

Although providers in Taiwan are not set up with an ICU system of care, neurologists and neurosurgeons in the U.S. might be surprised at their implementation of high-level medical equipment and devices. “The neurosurgeons we have met are advanced in terms of their readiness to accept innovative technologies,” says Dr. Alan Hoffer. “The types of procedures they do are extremely similar to what we see here.”

The ongoing sharing of knowledge has led to discussions about how surgeons from each institution approach various neurosurgical cases. “University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University have developed a multifaceted relationship with TMU, and that is something we can continue to grow and develop in terms of patient care, research and educating the next generation of neurologists and neurosurgeons,” says Dr. Alan Hoffer.

Advancing World-Class Care

“We had a substantive visit with colleagues from the prestigious university and look forward to the continued international partnership and exchange of ideas as both institutions work to advance world-class neurological and neurosurgical care,” says Dr. Bambakidis, Director and Vice President of the UH Neurological Institute, the Harvey Huntington Brown Jr. Chair in Neurosurgery at UH Cleveland Medical Center and Professor at the School of Medicine.

For more information, contact Dr. Hoffer at SAlan.Hoffer@UHhospitals.org.

Contributing Experts:
S. Alan Hoffer, MD
Director
Traumatic Brain Injury Center
Co-director
Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit Program
University Hospitals Neurological Institute
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Associate Professor
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Nicholas C. Bambakidis, MD
Vice President and Director
University Hospitals Neurological Institute
Harvey Huntington Brown, Jr. Chair in Neurosurgery
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Professor
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine