Journey of a Thousand Miles : An Extraordinary Life

Ruey J. Yu

Description

Born into poverty in Japanese-occupied Taiwan, Ruey Yu overcame near-starvation during the Second World War. Destiny, however, had other plans for him: he was to become an award-winning biochemist, then the co-founder of what would soon become the multi-million-dollar skin care company NeoStrata.

After living through the Second World War and the post-war military dictatorship of General Chiang Kai-Shek, Dr. Yu won a coveted post-graduate scholarship to study chemistry at the University of Ottawa. He subsequently took up a research position at the renowned Skin and Cancer Hospital (Temple University) in Philadelphia, where he collaborated with pre-eminent dermatologist Dr. Eugene Van Scott to develop treatments for serious skin diseases.

In 1972, Dr. Yu and Dr. Van Scott discovered that fruit acids, known as AHAs, could effectively treat the disfiguring skin disease ichthyosis, changing the lives of thousands of people who suffered from this debilitating illness. Their further research into the biochemical properties of AHAs led to the discovery of the anti-wrinkle and anti-aging effects of these natural substances—a discovery that was licensed by skin care companies around the world, sparking the multibillion-dollar cosmeceutical industry.

Issu d’un milieu défavorisé dans un Taiwan sous occupation japonaise, Ruey Yu évite de justesse la famine qui déferle sur son pays pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le destin attend de lui autre chose : il devait devenir un biochimiste primé, puis le cofondateur de ce qui allait devenir la multinationale américaine spécialisée en soins de la peau, NeoStrata. 

Il survit donc non seulement à la Seconde Guerre mondiale, mais aussi à la dictature militaire qui suit la guerre, sous le règne du général Tchang Kaï-chek, avant d’obtenir une bourse d’études diplômées fort prisée offerte par l’Université d’Ottawa. Plus tard, il obtient un poste de chercheur au prestigieux Skin and Cancer Hospital (Temple University) de Philadelphie, où il collabore avec le dermatologue Eugene Van Scott, au développement de traitements permettant de soigner de graves maladies de la peau. 

En 1972, ils découvrent que les acides a-hydroxylés, ou AHA, combattaient efficacement l’ichtyose, une maladie cutanée, transformant la vie de milliers de personnes atteintes de cette maladie débilitante. Des recherches plus poussées dans les propriétés des AHA leur ont permis de découvrir les propriétés anti-rides et anti-âge de ces substances naturelles – une découverte qui a été brevetée par les entreprises de soins de la peau partout dans le monde, donnant le coup d’envoi à l’industrie cosméceutique, qui rapporte des milliards de dollars.

Sujets

• Personal Memoirs
• Biography
• Cutaneous conditions
• Ichthyosis
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa
• Date de parution: 14 novembre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 37
• EAN13: 9780776625690
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The University of Ottawa Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its publishing program by the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, and the University of Ottawa.
Copy editing: Susan James
Proofreading: Lesley Mann
Typesetting: discript enr.
Cover design: discript enr.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Yu, Ruey J., author
Journey of a thousand miles: an extraordinary life / Dr. Ruey J. Yu with Kate Jaimet.
Issued in print and electronic formats
ISBN 978-0-7766-2567-6 (softcover)
ISBN 978-0-7766-2568-3 (PDF)
ISBN 978-0-7766-2569-0 (EPUB)
ISBN 978-0-7766-2570-6 (Kindle)
1. Yu, Ruey J. 2. Dermatologists-United States-Biography. 3. Pharmacologists-United States-Biography. 4. Autobiographies. I. Jaimet, Kate, 1969-, author II. Title.
RL46.3.Y9A3 2017
616.50092
C2017-905715-4
C2017-905716-2
Printed in Canada
University of Ottawa Press, 2017
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Eugene J. Van Scott
Prologue: Taiwan, 1946 Chapter 1 Coal Dust and Daydreams Chapter 2 Bowing to the Emperor Chapter 3 A City Monkey in the Country Chapter 4 Starvation and Surrender Chapter 5 Return to Hsinchu Chapter 6 The Tale of the Poor Scholar Chapter 7 A Diamond in the Trash Chapter 8 Pedalling Through Taipei Chapter 9 Pure Chemistry Chapter 10 Quemoy Chapter 11 Snowed Under Chapter 12 Coming to America Chapter 13 A Life-Changing Discovery Chapter 14 Taking a Gamble Chapter 15 Avon Calling Chapter 16 A Wrinkle in the Business Chapter 17 Head to Head with the Pink Lady Chapter 18 Moving Forward, Giving Back Chapter 19 New Research Directions
Epilogue: Philosophy and Vision of My Life
Afterword: Ruey Yu as a Child of Taiwan, by Scott Simon
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
LAO TZU
Foreword
MY CAREER in medical and biological science research has been divided into two distinct phases: the before-Ruey Yu period and the Ruey Yu period. Throughout both, I sought to associate with and work with those who would be my teachers in areas of science where I was less knowledgeable. Since 1968, Ruey has been the scientist/teacher for me.
He has a dogged determination to continually expand the scope of his own knowledge and capabilities, to become expert in new fields through relentless, intensive study. Examples are many.
After Temple University failed to obtain a patent for our initial discovery of compounds to promote skin pigmentation-i.e., esterified derivatives of dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)-he took it upon himself to write a new patent application that resulted in the granting to us of a valid patent from the U.S. Patent Office. Thereafter, all our patent applications were first drafted by Ruey before being sent to a patent attorney.
Later, when the dermatology department where we were conducting our joint research was abolished, our only alternative was to try to launch a business whose revenues could help us to continue our research. After our efforts to explore collaborations with joint-venture entities floundered, Ruey took it upon himself to become knowledgeable in business operation, while continuing to pursue new frontiers in bioscience.
How this singularly talented man came to be, physically and intellectually, is a challenge to scientific comprehension. Although he grew up severely deprived of nutrients, his brain developed a spectacular intellectual capacity. Perhaps the horrific conditions of his early life are what propelled his lifelong commitment to finding preventatives, cures, and solutions for humankind s illnesses, imperfections, and needs. Whatever the factors involved, Ruey is an extraordinary human being. To have had decades to collaborate so closely with such a complex, talented man has been a reward I continue to cherish.
Actualities achieved from our working together are essentially two. Primary are the discoveries of quite a few biochemical determinants of dermatologic form and function; we were still finding new ones as of the time of this writing in early 2016. The second is establishing a prestigious company that provides products for preventive and therapeutic dermatologic care, as well as for healthy skin appearance. The company has distinguished itself by scientifically testing products against comparator products or formulations, and by publishing or otherwise publicizing the results for open scrutiny. The company s management team over recent years has enthusiastically shared Ruey s and my goals.

Dr. Eugene Van Scott and Dr. Ruey Yu have enjoyed a long and fruitful scientific collaboration.
Ruey has repeatedly said to me, We do not need to have good luck. We do need to have the absence of bad luck.
Ruey has repeatedly said to me along the way, We do not need to have good luck. We do need to have the absence of bad luck. Luckily, events along the way have turned out in our favour.
EUGENE J. VAN SCOTT, M.D.
PROLOGUE
Taiwan, 1946
FATE stepped into my life one tropical spring day in 1946.
I was a fourteen-year-old boy with a passion for math and sciences. I was small for my age, my growth stunted by hunger and hard labour during the war years. But the war lay behind me now, and ahead lay a future of knowledge that I hoped to pursue.
I had risen early, as usual, that day for the long walk to the Hsinchu elementary school-through the soot-choked air of the railway yards near our home, down the dusty, windswept streets of the city, past rows of houses interspersed with bomb craters and piles of rubble. In the classroom, the atmosphere was hot and humid, hinting at the sweltering summer to come. An end-of-school feeling hung in the air-a buzz of excitement and uncertainty-when the teacher singled out me and three other boys for a special opportunity.
I glanced at the other three boys. It was easy to imagine becoming a mechanical engineer. But chemical engineering? The very words meant nothing to us. Mechanical engineering, sir, all four of us answered.
For most of the students in my class, elementary school graduation would mean the end of formal education. They would leave school and find low-paying jobs in service industries or manual labour. But the top four students had a chance to continue their education at the Hsinchu vocational junior high school, the teacher said. And I stood among those top four students.
There are only two majors: mechanical engineering and chemical engineering, the teacher told us. Which do you choose?
I glanced at the other three boys. It was easy to imagine becoming a mechanical engineer. In dozens of small shops around Hsinchu-the fifth largest city in Taiwan-we d seen mechanical engineers at work, building and repairing tools, fixing motorbikes or broken appliances. But chemical engineering? The very words meant nothing to us.
Mechanical engineering, sir, all four of us answered.
I see we have a problem, said the teacher.
There were not enough spots for all of us to enter the mechanical stream, he explained. Two of us must choose chemical engineering. The teacher sent us home to discuss the matter with our parents.
I laid the problem before my father that evening, in the simple, two-room dwelling where we lived with my mother, grandmother, and younger brother. The house had a dirt floor, no indoor plumbing, and a bamboo kitchen table made permanently wobbly by the resident termites that chewed at its legs.
My father was a good and gentle man, but he had no education and couldn t read or write. A railway station janitor, he had spent his entire life scraping by on meagre wages that often didn t suffice to put shoes on our feet and rice on our table. To him, the choice was clear. A certificate in mechanical engineering meant a guaranteed job and a good income. A certificate in chemical engineering seemed like a path to nowhere.

Ruey Yu s father, Ah-Shain Wei, worked as a janitor in the Hsinchu railway station.
Chemical engineering? I ve never even heard of it. You won t find a job, he said. No. Tell your teacher you must be a mechanical engineer.
I opened my mouth and spoke two words. Two words that would set me on a path to a career, a wife, a family, a new life in a new country, and to success and honours beyond those I had ever dreamed possible. Two words that changed my destiny. Chemical engineering .
But when I brought my answer to my teacher the next day, the three other boys all had the same response.
I see we have a problem, the teacher repeated.
He resolved that we should draw lots to choose our career paths. I drew my slip of paper out of the bowl and, full of trepidation, looked at the characters written on it.
Chemical engineering.
Tears sprang to my eyes. To have come so close to securing an education that would lift my family out of poverty-and to have failed. What would I tell my father?
Please, I implored. My father will never forgive me.
You drew this lot, the teacher said, not without sympathy. Tell me, in your heart of hearts, what would you like to study?
At that moment, I experienced a mental dissociation that I can t explain, even to this day. I knew what I needed to say. I knew what my father expected of me. My brain was shouting: mechanical engineering. I opened my mouth and spoke two words. Two words that would set me on a path to a career, a wife, a family, a new life in a new country, and to success and honours beyond those I had ever dreamed possible.
Two words that changed my destiny.
Chemical engineering.
1
Coal Dust and Daydream