Li-Wei ChouProf Taiwan

Li-Wei Chou, MD, PhD, is currently a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Science and the School of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University (CMU); and a clinical visiting staff at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) in China Medical University Hospital (CMUH). He is also the Deputy Superintendent of the Asia University Hospital (AUH) and the Director of the Department of PM&R in AUH, Asia University, Taichung. He received his MD degree from CMU in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1996 and obtained both a doctor's and a Chinese doctor’s license. From 1998 to 2002, he completed his residency training and passed the National Board examination of PM&R in 2002. He obtained his master’s degree in the Institute of Medical Science at CMU from 2004 to 2006. Since 2007, he has studied myofascial pain under Prof. Chang-Zern Hong, whose major research achievements include the pathophysiology of myofascial trigger points (MTrPs), therapeutic approaches to treating MTrPs, and MTrP injection techniques. He joined one of Prof. Hong’s five big academic groups in Taiwan and had focused his research work on MTrPs. In 2013, he graduated and was conferred the degree of Doctor of Medical Science in the Graduate Institute of Chinese Medicine, College of Chinese Medicine of CMU under the guidance of Prof. Jaung-Geng Lin, whose main research topics include acupuncture evidence-based medicine, acupuncture analgesia, and acupuncture safety. To date, he has published more than 200 peer-reviewed academic papers and 18 book chapters. Half of them are related to MTrPs. He continues to clarify the MTrP mechanism and to develop effective approaches for MTrP therapy, including MTrP injection, dry needling, and Fu’s subcutaneous needling. Besides, he is interested in clinical and research work in neurologic rehabilitation (robotic rehabilitation, etc.), orthopedic rehabilitation, and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.