Research Focus

TCM Formula Database and Prescription Pattern Research

Using national databases and prescription-pattern analysis to build a data-driven foundation for Chinese medicine research.

My perspective

I have long believed that if TCM is to move toward stronger modern research, it cannot depend only on anecdotal experience or abstract concepts. Formula database work matters because it lets us identify recurring clinical patterns, core prescription combinations, and real-world practice habits, which in turn generate better research questions.

What I care about most in this area

Turning experience into analyzable data

I want clinical experience to become something that can be organized, compared, and reanalyzed.

Identifying true prescription patterns

The value is not simply listing common herbs, but understanding the structure behind them.

Improving the starting point for clinical research

Many trial questions can first emerge from real-world prescription patterns.

Data architecture is itself an academic capability

A usable formula database is a form of infrastructure.

Representative papers

The Core Pattern Analysis on Chinese Herbal Medicine for Sjögren's syndrome (2015)A highly representative early database paper.

Chinese herbal prescriptions for osteoarthritis in Taiwan (2014)Shows extension of prescription-pattern analysis across diseases.

Prescription Patterns of TCM for Peptic Ulcer Disease in Taiwan (2015)Another example of reading clinical regularity from databases.

Representative projects

I list each directly relevant project separately here, including both NSTC and hospital-based projects. If this website does not currently contain a standalone project for this theme, I leave it blank rather than forcing a match.

V108B-031Gene sequence, TCM constitution, tongue, and pulse associations in Sjögren’s syndromeHospital project

V109B-034Integrated functional proteomics and oral microbiome in Sjögren’s syndromeHospital project

Teaching links

Teaching on TCM diagnosis and pattern interpretationThese teaching efforts are closely linked to my database thinking.