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 psychiatrist and academic with specialized in psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, preventive medicine, occupational therapy, and brain and mind sciences.[3][4][5]

Susan Shur-Fen Gau
高淑芬
PronunciationGau Shur-Fen
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Taipei, Taiwan
EducationYale University (2001)
OrganizationTaiwanese Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Known forGreat dedication to pediatric psychiatry.
WorksCo-developed and prepared several Chinese versions of instruments for ADHD and ASD.[1][2]
TitleProfessor
AwardsNational Taiwan University Hospital Outstanding Research Award
Medical career
ProfessionMedical Doctor
FieldPsychiatrist
Institutions
ResearchConducted several studies on pharmacotherapy for ADHD, and been conducting the follow-up, family, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, neurophysiological, and genetic studies on ADHD and ASD
Academic work
Institutions
Main interestsPsychiatric, genetic, and pharmacological epidemiology of the three main mental disorders: sleep disorders, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Writing career
SubjectsPsychiatry
Notable works
  • Having a Child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Attention! A Complete Guide for Adult ADHD
Susan Shur-Fen Gau
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Hanyu PinyinGāo shūfēn
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGāo shūfēn
Bopomofoㄍㄠ   ㄕㄨˊ   ㄈㄣ

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 and to clarify confusions and misunderstandings of pediatric psychiatry, and currently working as President, director, medical doctor, 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, National Taiwan University, IACAPAP, and Taiwanese Psychiatric Association respectively.[4][6]

Early life

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She was born and raised at Wanhua District, 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.[7]

Education and career

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She graduated from Yale University in 2001 with degrees in epidemiology and Ph.D.[8]

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.[9][10]

Patient right defense

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Explanations to cease the tide of anti-psychiatry

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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 treatment' while questioning the validity of the present regimen pattern".[9]

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.[11]

Clarifications made in response to propaganda by media in 2015

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In 2015, Central News Agency reported a study conducted by Michigan University[12] that triggered a series of panic among the families in Taiwan.[13]

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.[13]

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

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May fifth, 2017, a convention in the Legislative Yuan 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.[14]

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.[14]

Research

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She is one of the pioneers in Taiwan that started Taiwan-based research and enrolled local patients to the domestic clinical trials. Since then, Taiwanese patients' statistics were involved in many secondary thesis such as meta-analysis and systematic reviews.[5]

Much of the research she was involved in was cited into the ADHD 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.[15] "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.[15]

Notable publications

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To date, as of late November, 2017, she has led her team members publish a series of mental illness' 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.[16][17]

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】.[18][19][20]

Published researches involved

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2019

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  • Chen, Ying-Yeh; Chen, Yi-Lung; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen (2019-01-01). "Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and suicidality: The mediating effects of psychiatric comorbidities and family function". Journal of Affective Disorders. 242: 96–104. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.023. ISSN 0165-0327. PMID 30173064. S2CID 52168979.

2018

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Yeh, Chin-Bin; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Kessler, Ronald C.; Wu, Yu-Yu (March 2008). "Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the adult ADHD Self-report Scale". International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. 17 (1): 45–54. doi:10.1002/mpr.241. PMC 6878254. PMID 18286465.
  2. ^ Freedman, Robert; Lewis, David A.; Michels, Robert; Pine, Daniel S.; Schultz, Susan K.; Tamminga, Carol A.; Gabbard, Glen O.; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen; Javitt, Daniel C.; Oquendo, Maria A.; Shrout, Patrick E.; Vieta, Eduard; Yager, Joel (January 2013). "The Initial Field Trials of DSM-5: New Blooms and Old Thorns". American Journal of Psychiatry. 170 (1): 1–5. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12091189. PMID 23288382. Archived from the original on 2013-01-15.
  3. ^ "找回專注力:成人ADHD全方位自助手冊". 博客來 (in Chinese). 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  4. ^ a b "首頁 - 高淑芬醫師". 國立臺灣大學醫學院附設醫院醫療體系全球資訊網 (in Chinese). 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  5. ^ a b "CURRICULUM VITAE" (PDF). NTUH. 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-30. Section of RESEARCH GRANTS
  6. ^ "Executive Committee Members". IACAPAP. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  7. ^ "科技部科技大觀園-愛與責任─高淑芬深化臺灣的兒童精神醫學". 科技大觀園 (in Chinese). 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  8. ^ biography sketch
  9. ^ a b "用藥爭議-立法院上演大對決 ADHD用藥爭議 立法院上演大對決". 聯合報官方網站 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Taipei. 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-09-02. Retrieved 2017-09-02.
  10. ^ "寧花100萬讓過動兒上課 就是不看病". 聯合報官方網站 (in Chinese). 聯合報. 2016-07-04.
  11. ^ 鄧桂芬 (2016-07-03). "過動症ADHD用藥爭議延燒 醫師與協會互批 - 生活". 聯合影音 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  12. ^ Epstein-Ngo, Quyen M.; McCabe, Sean Esteban; Veliz, Philip T.; Stoddard, Sarah A.; Austic, Elizabeth A.; Boyd, Carol J. (2015-11-19). "Diversion of ADHD Stimulants and Victimization Among Adolescents". Journal of Pediatric Psychology. 41 (7): 786–798. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsv105. ISSN 0146-8693. PMC 4945774. PMID 26590265.
  13. ^ a b "中央社報導密西根大學之相關研究回應之新聞稿". tscap.org.tw. 2015. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  14. ^ a b Press Release
  15. ^ a b "台大調查 近3成兒童有精神疾患需協助│TVBS新聞網". TVBS (in Chinese). 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  16. ^ "【臺大醫師到我家】本土專業書籍的新里程!國人第一套完整心身保健全書!". 財團法人中華民國自閉症基金會 (in Chinese). 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  17. ^ "精神科醫師出書 叮嚀送到家". 中時電子報 (in Chinese). 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  18. ^ 高淑芬 (2016-05-09). 找回專注力:成人ADHD全方位自助手冊 (in Chinese). 台北: 心靈工坊. ISBN 9789863570592. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  19. ^ 高淑芬 (2013-08-28). 家有過動兒:幫助ADHD孩子快樂成長 (in Chinese). 台北: 心靈工坊. ISBN 9789866112805. Retrieved 2016-12-09.
  20. ^ National Taiwan University Library

Books

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