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International Economic Research Society searches for resolutions to post Korea-US FTA pharmaceutical product safeguard disputes [November 19, 2012] 'I.E.R.' Team, won the best excellence award in the '8th University Trade Remedy Contest' (team leader Yook, Kyung-ho, holding plaque in middle of back row) 'How are intellectual property rights for new drugs protected?', 'What are solutions to patent disputes between Samsung and Apple?', 'What about international cooperation for constructing a system to prevent fraudulent issuance of certifications of the origins after the FTA?'... In a trade remedy contest among university students on trade dispute themes that are difficult even for trade experts to deal with, YU's team won the best excellence award. The 'International Economic Research Society' (advising professor Chun, Cheong-ghi, hereafter 'I.E.R.') composed of 24 students at the YU School of International Economics and Business, won the honors. They participated in the '8th University Trade Remedy Contest' held at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in the afternoon of the 15th, and won the award (KITA Chairman Award) and a cash prize of 3 million won. The University Trade Remedy Contest is hosted by the Korea Trade Commission and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, and is sponsored by Seoul Economic Daily, Fair Trade Society, and the Korea International Trade Association. It is an annual nationwide contest that has been hosted since 2005 with the goal of enhancing interest of trade remedy act among college students and to foster expert human resources. This year, over 150 students from 9 university teams across the nation such as Yeungnam University, Kyunghee University, Dankook University, Dongguk University, University of Incheon, Andong National University, Chonbuk National University, Changwon National University, and Cheongju University participated in the contest. They selected cases of damages to the Korean industry, acts of unfair trade, or violations of international trade standards due to dumping (anti-dumping duties), subsidies (countervailing duties), increase of imports (safeguard) and intellectual property infringements, and competed over a series of procedures from case studies to trade remedy actions. Participating students stated their position in a realistic manner for each issue by taking on roles of plaintiffs, defendants, investigators, head of trade committee and trade committee members. The YU 'I.E.R' team selected the safeguard (rise in import) dispute case in the pharmaceutical sector, which is a vulnerable sector for the Korean industry with the Korea-US FTA, and presented a solution to the matter, thus winning the award. They made up the process of trade conflicts with the US in the pharmaceutical sector five years after the FTA in 2012, and demonstrated the situation in which safeguards would be put into effect, all the way to the process of lawsuits, appeals, and final rulings. Yook, Kyung-ho (24, junior in the School of International Economics and Business), who was the team leader, said, "We were able to experience the real work related to trade remedies, even if it was indirectly, while preparing for the contest and we were able to enhance our understanding of cases that we learned through books." He added, "I want to work in a field where I can contribute to the nation in the international commerce sector." Professor Chun, Cheong-ghi (School of International Economics and Business), who was their advising professor, proudly said, "In a nation like our own in which trade is being expanded through multiple and simultaneous FTAs, the importance of trade remedies will naturally grow. Therefore, this contest was a great opportunity to reconfirm the need for establishing fair trade order in the age of FTAs and the importance of trade remedy programs among students who hope to become commerce experts in the future." He also added with emphasis, "Pan-national efforts should be made to strengthen trade remedy functions by expanding its trade organizations and reinforcing its expert personnel."
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Professor Jung, Jae-hak, supervisor of project, awarded Minister of Knowledge Economy Award YU is officially recognized as hub for fostering corporate customized, linked to employment human resources in energy [November 12, 2012] Professor Jung, Jae-hak (School of Chemical Engineering) won the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award. This was in recognition for his excellent work in the 'Energy Human Resources Fostering Project' sponsored by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. In the morning of the 8th, the '2012 Korea Energy R&D Expo', hosted by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy(MKE) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, was held at the 2nd Exhibit Hall of KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang, Gyeonggi-do. In the midst of experts in the domestic energy industry such as energy, resources, renewable energy, power and nuclear power, Professor Jung received the 'Best-Practice Minister of Knowledge Economy Award'. The 'Best-Practice Award' was given for the first time this year and is an awarded given to the supervisor of the best project according to the evaluation results of energy human resource fostering projects around the nation by the MKE. The MKE, which funds about 1 trillion won in energy related projects a year, introduced the human resource fostering project with the goal of nurturing the energy industry from two years ago. After fierce competition, only 80 project teams were selected. The MKE and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning recently made annual and stage-by-stage evaluations for these teams to select the 'Best Practice'. Evaluations were made by categorizing it into 'Basic Energy Human Resources Fostering Project Teams' (basic track) for undergraduates and the 'Advanced Energy Human Resources Fostering Project Teams' (advanced track) for graduate students. One best project team was selected from each. In result, Professor Jung, Jae-hak won the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award for supervising the 'YU Solar Cell Materials and Process R&D Workforce Cultivation Program', which is an advanced track for nurturing outstanding research and masters and PhDs. On this, Professor Jung, Jae-hak said, "YU has made the best achievements in research and technological transfer in the nation focusing on the materials, parts and progress in the solar cell sector, and it is being assessed as a hub university that supplies outstanding human resources to solar cell industries through its 'corporate customized, linked to employment' human resource fostering project." He added, "By actively responding to the demands of companies in need of the best brains, I am happy to contribute in the enhancement of global competitiveness for the Korean energy industry." YU's 'Solar Cell Materials and Process R&D Workforce Cultivation Program' was selected for the MKE's energy human resources fostering project in November 2010 and is receiving national funding of 2.27 billion won for 5 years.
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Professor Park's achievements on apoptosis mechanism research are internationally recognized He has made Outstanding research achievements such as publishing over 40 SCI theses in the past three years and selection of 'Top 1' in impact factor by the US National Institutes of Health [November 8, 2012] Professor Park, Hyun-ho (School of Biotechnology, 38, photo) was recently appointed as a member of the editing committee for <Apoptosis>, a prominent international academic journal in the molecular biology sector. Thus, Professor Park will judge papers applied to the journal and act as an advisor for the academic journal starting from January 2013. This shows that his excellence in 'Research on Apoptosis Mechanism', which his major field of study, was internationally recognized. Apoptosis is a mechanism in which cells destroy itself when receiving certain signals. It is a core field of studies in biology and is deeply related to many diseases including cancer, immune diseases, and degenerative diseases. Also, Professor Park became the first in the world to reveal the tri-structure of the Death Domain compound and was published as the primary author in one of the top three science journals <Cell> (IF 32.4) and <Annual Review of Immunology> (IF 49.2) receiving attention from the academic world as a young scholar in his 30s. After complete his doctorates at Cornell University and his post-doc at Stanford University, he was appointed as a professor of YU in September 2008. Since then, he has been very active in research publishing over 40 SCI class papers in prominent international journals in the molecular biology and biochemistry sectors such as <Nucleic Acids Research> and <Journal of Biological Chemistry>. Recently, the research papers on apoptosis-related-domain published on <Nucleic Acids Research> and <Apoptosis> was selected as 'Impact Factor Top 1' by the National Library of Medicine medical database search engine (BioMedLiB), which is overseen by the US National Institutes of Health. BioMedLib selects the top 20 theses for each field from over 20 million bio-medical related books and papers possessed by the US National Library of Medicine. Theses selected from here are automatically recognized for its value and excellence.
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YU is Selected as '2012 Best HRD' by the MEST and MOPAS Achievements of innovative university administration such as employee study group and suggestion system are officially recognized [October 31, 2012] YU (president Lee, Hyo-soo) was officially recognized as the '2012 Best HRD' institute. The achievements of administrative innovation focusing on employee specialization, work efficiency, and administrative sciences for competitive university administration in the intelligence-based age were officially recognized by the government. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology(MEST) and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security(MOPAS) held a certification ceremony for the '2012 Best HRD institute in the public sector' in the afternoon of the 29th at the Seoul Plaza Hotel. YU received the 'Best HRD' certification, plaque and certification mark. Thus, YU will be able to use the Best HRD certification mark for the next three years, and will also receive government support such as domestic and overseas training for HRD representatives and consulting for development of human resources as a member of the Best HRD Club. YU constructed an efficient university administration system and strived to establish a specialized and creative administrative culture through the following: ▲ Setting department and individual goals in connection to the university's vision ▲ Strengthening capacities of university by multiplication of promotion systems focusing on capacities and conducting compensation system according to achievement compared to goal ▲ Operating diverse educational programs to strengthen leadership, work, CS, and self-development capacities, while constructing a feedback system ▲ Construction of field-oriented education and training, and career management system based on analysis of work duties ▲ Construction of efficient and transparent e-HRD system ▲ Operation of employee study group and creative suggestion system, etc. YU President Lee, Hyo-soo stated, "I am very happy that we were selected as the best human resource development institute in a time where the importance of human resource development has become ever-more important due to the global market and intelligence-based economy." He added, "We will work harder to improve creative problem-solving capacities, comprehensive thinking and communication capacities, and self-management capacities of the faculty to meet our goal of employee specialization, work efficiency, and administrative science." Meanwhile, 'Best HRD (Best Human Resources Developer)' is a program that was started in 2006 by the government to grant certifications of public institutes with outstanding human resources development and management capacities through screening by experts, in order to achieve 'Human Resources Powerhouse KOREA' by constructing a support infrastructure for ability-based employment, continuous training and education, capacity-based HR management, and HRD. Selection of institutes for certification are made by setting the detailed judgment criteria for the two sections of human resources management and human resources development, followed by review of documents and then field investigations. Institutes that score 700 out of 1,000 possible points are finally selected by the certification committee. Until last year, a total of 170 institutes were selected as Best HRD certification institutes, and 19 were newly selected this year, including YU.
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The Ceremony for beginning 'Public Bicycle' was held at 11am on the 30th YU is Selected for public bicycle system construction project by MOPAS, national funding of 200 million won [October 30, 2012] At 11am on the 30th, YU held the 'Ceremony for Beginning the 2012 Public Bicycle system Construction' in order to promote the use of bicycles at its front gate, upgrading it to 'Green Campus'. The ceremony for beginning 'Public Bicycle system Construction' is being held at the front gate of the YU campus in the morning of the 30th. The 'University Public bicycle construction project' overseen by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security(MOPAS) aims at spreading the use of bicycles in universities and in the society by promoting bicycles, which are transportation methods that emit no carbon, as a major transportation method. It accepted applications from April and 3 universities in Korea, including YU, were selected for this project. Thus, YU received national funding of 200 million won. With these funds, the university purchased 100 public bicycles, installed 195 slots for parking bicycles, and will begin pilot operations for renting bicycles starting from the middle of last month. In order to ensure safety and prevent theft, bike parking lots and ramps were established over an area of 1,000㎡, while also installing 6 security cameras. In addition, it is planning to construct a bicycle road together with Gyeongsan City and installing bike parking lots at major public transportation stations to promote the use of public bicycles with the cooperation of local governments. Through this, YU is expecting to increase the use of bicycles, which is currently at 2.76%, to 5% by 2016. At this ceremony, YU President Lee, Hyo-soo forecasted, "With the opening of the extension of the Gyeongsan line (subway line 2) in September, bicycle use will increase in school," while adding, "YU will also continue to show interest and make efforts to become a green campus by supporting students to use public bicycles to get to school so that they may exercise, while also reducing carbon emissions." YU students are riding public bicycles in campus on the 30th. Lee, Chan-hee (24), a sophomore in the School of Business who participated in the ceremony on behalf of the students, said, "Four green campus leaders of YU, which is part of the Korean Association for Green Campus Initiative, are providing volunteer services everyday from 8 to 9 in the morning to show how to borrow and use the public bicycles." He added, "I hope that people will realize the cleanness and convenience of bicycles as a carbon-free method of transportation and used more by not only YU students but the community as well. Also, I hope that YU will become a university that sets an example for green campus." Meanwhile, at this event, YU President Lee, Hyo-soo, professors, MOPAS Bicycle Policy Division director Kim, Ki-young, and Gyeongsangbuk-do Division of Urban Planning director Kim, Sang-dong, as well as 50 students participated in the event to congratulate the official launching of the Public Bicycle project.
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In the International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems 'ICCAS 2012', 466 theses domestic are and international theses are published, and 3 best paper Minister Award are received. [October 25, 2012] Lee, Tae-hee (left) and Professor Park, Ju-hyun winning the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award for being chosen as the best thesis in international conference Professor Park, Ju-hyun's research lab (Department of Electrical Engineering) won the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award at the ICCAS (International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems), which is the nation's largest international conference in the control, automation, robotics and systems sector. ICCAS, which is hosted by the Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems (president Hur, Nam-Suk), held its 12th conference from the 17th to the 21st at ICC Jeju (International Convention Center Jeju), in which over 600 researchers in industries, academic and research from 29 countries attended for presentation of research theses, speeches by scholars, and workshops. 466 research theses were presented at this year's conference (55% domestic, 45% international). All of them were pre-screened and recognized for their excellence. Professor Park's team received the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award for the thesis titled 'Decentralized Guaranteed Cost Dynamic Control for Synchronization of a Complex Dynamical Network'. The Minister of Knowledge Economy Award was given to a total of three studies including that of Professor Park's. In this paper which the first author is Lee, Tae-hee (29, PhD course in Electrical Engineering), with Professor Park Joo-hyon as the corresponding author and Jung, Ho-youl(Department of Information and Communication Engineering) and two other co-authors, it suggested a new method that could ensure performance of the system by applying the 'Dynamic Controller' in order to solve the 'Synchronization Problem' of 'Complex Dynamic Network', and thus was recognized for its academic value. 'Complex Dynamic Network' refers to a large-scale network system that is combined together in a complex form of one independent systems (i.e.: automobile, airplane, the smallest unit of brain cells - the neuron, DNA, mRNA, small-scale network systems, etc). This is the upper-most concept that oversees almost all large-scale systems around us such as internet networks, power grid, SNS, human networks, spread of diseases, food chain in nature, etc. Therefore, research on complex dynamic network is the latest field that many scientists are concentrating research on due to its usefulness and broad range of application. One area that is attracting the most interest is the problem of synchronizing the status of sub-systems (location information, speed information, etc) that makes up the complex dynamic network. This is called the 'Synchronization Problem' and it has high academic and commercial value because it can be applied in various sectors such as communication security that requires high security, formation flight of jets, and mobile sensor networks. In order to solve this problem, various control theories based on mathematic theories such as Graph Theory and Linear Algebra are being developed. However, they are all focused only on 'Static Controller'. This is because the structure of the controller is simple making it easy to design. However, the 'Dynamic Controller' method of Professor Park's team attracted a great deal of attention. There are much more design variables compared to static controllers, and the structure of the complex dynamic network system is much more complicated, making it much more difficult to design. However, it can contribute greatly in improving the stability and performance of the overall network system. It was assessed to have broadened the research horizons of the synchronization problem by designing distributed controller that makes it easier to control large-scale systems, while also considering the control problem to ensure minimal cost by enhancing energy efficiency. Professor Park, Ju-hyun, who participated in the research as a thesis advisor and corresponding author, stated, "Research on complex dynamic network is a field that can be applied in many areas and that will have a large effect from natural phenomena, social phenomena, as well as various industrial sectors. Thus, we hope to conduct more in-depth academic and empirical research on various control problems to contribute in both industry and academia." Meanwhile, Professor Park played a big role in YU being ranked 40th in the QS World University Rankings, a global university evaluation institute of England. YU was the only university in Korea to be ranked in the top 50 of the world. Professor Park published 37 SCI papers in just the last year, and while working as a professor at YU in 2000, he published over 200 SCI papers. He also scored nearly a perfect score in the thesis citation index, and is thus internationally recognized for his academic performance.
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Jeon, Jin-hwa won the top prize at ‘2012 Seoul Modelist Contest’ The contest is the 'Nation's only' contest in the basic fashion pattern sector, and has a competition of 37 to 1, 3 separate tests over 3 months [October 24, 201] "After winning the bronze medal at the 2009 World Skills Competition my burden to do better grew because of both people around me and myself, but I took on this challenge as a fresh start. It was a great opportunity to think about what exactly are good clothes and that I should learn, experience, and strive more to create such better clothes." Jeon, Jin-hwa (24), a senior in the Department of Clothing and Fashion, won the highest award at the '2012 Seoul Modelist Contest'. She also won a 5 million won cash prize. Jeon, Jin-hwa of YU who won the highest award at the 2012 Seoul Modelist Contest 'Modelists' are experts who create patterns based on sketches made by designers reflecting the features of the materials and designs. Depending on the direction of the pattern that the modelist takes, the fit, style, and material costs of the clothes are determined, and thus, they play a pivotal role in clothing production. The Modelist Contest, which is held every year as part of Seoul City's efforts to foster next generation fashion industry leaders since 2001, is the nation's only contest for patterns in the basic fashions sector. This year, 262 took part in the contest, recording a high competition rate of 37 to 1. The contestants underwent the first stage in 'jacket pattern design', second stage in 'coat pattern design and fitting', and third stage in 'interviews' over a period of three months from August to October. In result, only the top seven were selected as 'Best Modelists'. Jeon came in second overall and first among students, winning the highest award. She said, "During the contest period, my heart rate doubled. Because I wanted to be judged only with my skills, I did not mention winning at other international contests in my application. I went all-in for this contest and I am happy to have such great results. I would like to especially thank Professor Park, Soon-jee who helped me both materially and spiritually, and also providing me with a studio and resources." She added, "I would like to become a skilled modelist who can make patterns regardless of the clothes given to me and eventually contribute in the globalization of the Korean clothing fashion industry." This award was especially meaningful for Jeon who dreams of becoming a modelist. This is because she was recognized for her talent by the ten pattern expert judges, made up of 2 designers and 8 current modelists. She has already won many awards such as the bronze medal at the 2009 World Skills Competition in the clothing skills sector, first place in the 2009 World Skills Competition preliminaries to represent Korea, gold medal in the 2009 Gyeongsangbuk-do Skills Competition 'dressmaking' sector, fourth place in the 2008 National Skills Competition of Korea, and the silver medal in the 2008 Local Skills Competition of Korea, but this award was even more significant. A spokesperson for the Korea Fashion Association that oversaw this contest said, "Miss Jeon, Jin-hwa has patterning skills that even takes into consideration the sewing, and that is why she especially stood out to veteran judges." The awards ceremony will be held at the Seoul Fashion Art Hall at 5pm on the 26th. Past winners will also attend the event, which will be a place of exchange with the hosting of clothing exhibits and special seminars.
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The Team studies acrylamide's induction of arteriosclerosis and aging effects for the first time in the world Female college student + Female high school student team are working on the project supported by WISET (Center for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology) [October 18, 2012] 'Marie Curie' Team (team leader Kim, Sung-min, front row, right) and Advising Professor Cho, Kyung-hyun (front low, center) became the first in the world to investigate the induction of arteriosclerosis and skin aging acceleration effects of acrylamide The 'Marie Curie' Team (Advising Professor Cho, Kyung-hyun), made up of female college students of YU and high school girls in a local high school, recently won the Poster Award at the 2012 academic conference of the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul. The team was made up of 3 female college students including team leader Kim, Sung-min (24, 3rd term in Master's and PhD course) of the YU School of Biotechnology, Lim, So-mang (21, junior), and Jung, Hye-ji (20, sophomore), and 4 high school girls - Lee, Hyun-jung (16) and Hwang, Ah-reum (16) who are second year students at Sunhwa Girl's High School (Yeongcheon), and Park, So-yun (16) and Han, Hye-jung (16), who are first year students at Daegu Il Science High School (Gaksan-dong, Dong-gu, Daegu). In May, the 'Marie Curie' team was selected for the 'Research Support Project for Female College Student Team' by WISET (Center for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology) and began research on 'Observation of acrylamide's induction of arteriosclerosis and aging effects' receiving scholarships of 5 million won. 'Acrylamide' is a chemical substance used for leak stops and synthetic fiber adhesives. Recently consumption of this has grown rapidly due to the high content of carbohydrate food that are heated like fast food and french fries. It has been reported that when absorbed by the body through the respiratory system or the skin, it can cause speech disorders, peripheral neuritis and other nervous system related diseases, as well as genetic modification and cancer. However, no research has been conducted on its induction of arteriosclerosis and aging effects. Thus, the 'Marie Curie' team raised zebrafish at Professor Cho, Kyung-hyun's lab of the YU School of Biotechnology in acrylamide solvents of different concentrations and conducted tests to be the first in the world to study the effects that it has on causing arteriosclerosis and aging through dissection and analysis. For this, team members not only shared research information through the WISET online mentoring site, e-mail and SNS, but also met on the weekends or holidays twice a month during the semester, and every other week during vacation periods at the YU School of Biotechnology 'Biochemical Molecular Medical Lab' to conduct tests, check progress, and hold discussions. In result, the 'Marie Curie' team discovered that acrylamide causes lipoprotein to transform and accelerate arteriosclerosis, while promoting aging of skin fiber cells. In this conference, they presented a poster titled 'Observation of the induction of arteriosclerosis and aging by acrylamide using human cells and zebrafish models'. The results of this research are scheduled to be presented at The Gerontological Society of America Conference that will be held in San Diego in the US in November. On such achievements, Park, So-yun (16) a first year student of Daegu Il Science High School, said, "I dreamed of becoming a scientist. So I attended various science camps since middle school. While working on upgraded tests and research with my teammates in college and graduate school at the university lab for the past several months made me feel like I actually became a scientist." She added with a smile, "I am happy to hear that the results of the research will be presented in overseas conferences as well, and I am really excited with hopes that it might be published on prominent SCI-level international academic journals as well." Kim, Sung-min, who was the leader of the 'Marie Curie' team said, "Though there is still a lot of learning and research to do, I am very happy because it feels as though we have been recognized for our potential," while adding, "There should be many Korean female scientists who win the Nobel Award in the future. Our team will continue to work even harder so that we can partake in such honor." ※ WISET Research Support Project for Female College Student Team : The Project provides support for research of teams in which a female student in her master's or PhD course at a science and engineering graduate school in order to enhance their research capacity and leadership, and to foster outstanding research & development human resources in the science technology sector. Meanwhile, it aims at giving high school students the opportunity to experience science & engineering programs and college students the chance to participate in in-depth research in their major.
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For past 6 years, the team has shown outstanding performance, such as 164 SCI theses, 15 registered patents, 2 technology transfers. The Team developed anti-high blood pressure, anti-aging, and anti-cancer improved new drugs, and prepared for their commercialization. [October 17, 2012] YU (president Lee, Hyo-soo) received 'very good' rating for the overall evaluations of the 2nd phase 'Research-oriented University Fostering Project' (Brain Korea 21, hereinafter 'BK21') Recently, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology(MEST), and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced the results of analyzing and assessing the performance of the 500 project units (teams) of 65 universities nationwide that received support for the 2nd phase BK 21 project from 2006 to 2012. According to the results, the YU College of Pharmacy's 'Improved New Drug Development and Efficacy Evaluation Human Resource Fostering Team' (team leader Yong, Chul-soon, hereinafter 'Improved New Drug Team' received the highest rating. 4 professors such as Yong, Chul-soon and Kim, Jong-oh (improved new drug development) and Kim, Jung-ae and Park, Pil-hoon (efficacy evaluation) and 91 graduate school students (average 12 students per year) participated in YU's 'New Improved Drug Team' and published 164 SCI-level theses in the past 6 years. Basically, 27.3 SCI-level theses were published a year and 2.3 a month. In addition, the graduate school was specialized in order to foster and supply outstanding researchers customized to local companies. Thus, it was assessed to be a successful case that offered a systematic cornerstone and stable establishment of the research-oriented university fostering project by newly graduating 5 doctorates and 33 masters. The YU Improved New Drug Team displayed outstanding performance in the new technology development and technology transfer sector as well. For the past 6 years, it applied for 27 domestic patents and registered 15, while also transferring technologies for 2 improved new drugs through continuous industry-university cooperation and joint research with related businesses such as Dong-A Pharmaceutical and TG Biotech, thus having considerable effects in generating business. It has developed improved new medicines for anti-high blood pressure, anti-aging, and anti-cancer, and is currently in the process of commercializing them. On this, Professor Yong, Chul-soon (School of Pharmacy, 56), the leader of the Improved New Drug Team, stated, "The BK21 Project Assessment is an overall assessment of the performance for the past 6 years, and is meaningful because it is the last assessment for the BK21 that will end in February 2013." He added, "With the domestic pharmaceutical industry that was focused more on generic drugs being reorganized to be improved new drug-oriented, we will concentrate on fostering the best brains of universities so that it can become competitive in the global market as well." Meanwhile, the second phase BK21 Project supports graduate school students and up-and-coming researchers (post-doc, etc) in order to foster world-class research-oriented university and outstanding local graduate schools, and to foster high quality R&D personnel. The YU Improved New Drug Team is planning to participate in the Performance Exhibit hosted by the National Research Foundation of Korea at the Gwacheon National Science Museum on the 23rd and 24th to contribute to proliferation of the research results.
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YU attracts Japanese anti-cancer drug development venture company, ECI, and opens 'YU-ECI Research Center' on the 12th Advanced equipment worth 12 billion won such as the world's only 'TAXIScan' is installed at the center YU starts the development of US FDA approved '1st Korean anti-cancer drug' and artificial organs [October 12, 2012] Real-time photo by TAXIScan of white blood cells attacking germs (shows process of white blood cells (neutroph) attacking and destroying germs with the passage of time) YU (president Lee, Hyo-soo) has begun full-scale development of the US FDA approved 'first Korean anti-cancer drug' and artificial organs. The first step to this was the 'YU-ECI Research Center' opening ceremony held at the YU Center for Research Facilities at 3pm on the 12th. The core research team of the Japanese listed venture company ECI (Effector Cell Institute), which deals with stem cells, opened up in YU. This is basically an official declaration that it will not stop short in just basic research. YU-ECI Research Center will conduct clinical tests and pass the US FDA's approval procedures up to the stage of commercial sales in the global market. When this succeeds, the Korean medical industry centering on the 'YU-ECI Research Center' is expected to be equipped with sufficient competitive strength to enter the global bio industry market. The bio industry market is a 'blue ocean' that is expected to expand to 309 billion USD (343.2 trillion won) by 2015. For the success of this project, YU appointed the founder of ECI, who is also a world-renowned scholar in the BT sector, and an honorary professor of University of Tokyo Medical Science, Kanegasaki Shiro (74, photo) as a chair professor of the YU Department of Nano, Medical and Polymer Materials. Professor Kanegasaki is unrivaled in researching the development of next-generation anti-cancer and anti-inflammation drugs. After completing his post-doctorates course at Tufts University Medical School in the US, he worked as a visiting professor of the Max Planck Institute in Germany. In addition to his illustrious research background, he is still actively conducting research and published 152 papers in internationally prominent journals such as the top academic journals in immunology. In addition, he was awarded the Japanese Society for Bacteriology Award, Japanese Biochemical Society Award, and the International Society of Immunity Deficiency Award. Recently, he developed a comprehensive next-generation anti-cancer medicine using the human immune system, and is conducting clinical tests simultaneously in the US and Japan. The first clinical test is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012. Thus, there is a much higher possibility that the YU-ECI Research Center will successfully developed commercial new medicines within the next several years. It is expected that the new medicine will have an excellent effect in treating lung cancer, which is the 4th most frequent and 1st in death rate, as well as head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, uterine cancer, and breast cancer. The YU-ECI Research Center will also begin developing artificial organs such as blood vessels, skin, urinary bladder and liver. It is also planning to develop and launch various medical instruments needed for research, as well as medicine development for incurable diseases such as diabetes and dementia. For this, the YU Polymer Gel Cluster Center (director Han Sung-soo, Department of Nano, Medical and Polymer Materials) that conducted preliminary research for several years will collaborate with two core researchers who worked together with Professor Kanegasaki for 10 years. During this process, the advanced equipment worth over 12 billion won under the ownership of the YU-ECI Research Center is also expected to play a big role. 'TAXIScan', which was developed by Professor Kanegasaki, is a high-tech equipment that can monitor cell movement in real-time through special video treating processes. There is only one automated TAXIScan in the entire world. YU President Lee, Hyo-soo stated, "The capacities of YU School of Medicine and College of Pharmacy, both of which have long traditions, will combine with the advanced engineering technologies of BT and IT to open new horizons and convergence and integrative research." He added, "In the near future, new medicine developed by the YU-ECI Research Center will rewrite the history of conquering cancer."
