Ma Hui-ming honored by Johns Hopkins for Taiwan medical reforms

Professor Ma Hui-ming, Director of National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, has been honored with the 2026 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins University. The award ceremony took place in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 9, coinciding with the university's 150th anniversary.

Ma was recognized for his three decades of contributions to emergency medical services (EMS) reform in Taiwan, innovation in rural healthcare, and international health cooperation. Since earning his doctorate in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 1998, Ma has been a key figure in establishing Taiwan's modern EMS system. His efforts include implementing a dual-track emergency system, training over 2,000 professionals, and promoting the widespread use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), which has contributed to a nearly sevenfold increase in survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients.

In his current role at the Yunlin Branch, Ma focuses on addressing healthcare challenges in aging and resource-limited rural areas through digital health, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence. His work also extends internationally, sharing Taiwan's emergency medical expertise with countries such as Burkina Faso, Indonesia, and Somaliland.