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Health Convergence Professor Publishes Article in JAMA

Ahn Song Vogue, a professor of Health Convergence published an article in the world-renowned medical journal JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). In a joint research with researchers from Gachon University College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, Professor Ahn analyzed the incidence of thyroid cancer, the number and types of thyroid cancer surgeries and the incidence of postoperative hypoparathyroidism in Korea between 2007 and 2016, based on the big data from the National Health Insurance Sharing Service (NHISS) which is operated by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) of Korea. Thyroid cancer had been increasing at a faster rate than any other cancer since 2000 in both Korea and worldwide. Compared with the incidence of thyroid cancer by country in 2012, South Korea showed four times higher incidence of thyroid cancer in men and five times in women than the United States, which is known to be related to high rate of medical screenings. Since 2013, with much heightened awareness of situations like this, new guidelines have been enacted and implemented to encourage more selective thyroid ultrasonography at the time of examining for thyroid cancer, and to revise the criteria for a thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology with suspicious nodules larger than 1 cm in diameter. The research found that the incidence and the rate of surgeries of thyroid cancer began to decline after peaking in 2013, and that the incidence of postoperative hypoparathyroidism reduced at the same time. Professor Ahn, the first author of the article, said, "This research is meaningful in that it may influence the national health policy by grasping the status and prospect of the national health level and the medical conduct based on the NHISS big data in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution trend.
- No.503
- Writer
- Date2020.02.10
- Views17141
502
Professor Kim Wankyu Succeeded in Attracting Five-Billion-Won-Investment in His Big Data-AI-Based Drug Discovery Venture

Professor Kim Wankyu of Life Science attracted Series A investment worth 5 billion won for KaiPharm, an AI-Data driven drug discovery venture. Professor Kim raised series A investment funding just in 14 months after he set up the venture firm, and plans to build a globally unique reference database for drug-induced gene expression profiles. Kaipharm, which was founded by a research team led by Professor Kim Wankyu in 2018, develops the next generation platform for new medicines through unique bioinformatics analysis, big data mining and virtual search technology. Kim said that, with this technology, we can treat cells with drugs to analyze the expression patterns of approximately 20,000 human genes, and thereby produce a wealth of information on the mechanism of action of the drugs. In addition, the technology can be utilized to find a new indication by investigating whether a change in transcriptome patterns of a developing drug is similar to the action of an existing drug, or by comparing that with the pattern in the state of a particular disease. With this investment, KaiPharm and Institut Pasteur Korea decided to jointly generate an NGS-driven drug-induced transcriptome database (KMAP project). Based on this project, KaiPharm plans to develop new drugs in collaboration with research institutes, universities and pharmaceutical companies at home and abroad and provide analysis services. Previously, KaiPharm was selected as a recipient of Tech Incubator Program for startup Korea (TIPS) by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and received seed investment. With the Series A investment funding that the firm raised from KB Investment and other six entities, now KaiPharm secures a total of 7 billion won. KaiPharm was established through a startup support program for faculty which includes “Ewha labs venture certification” and provision of a startup space within the laboratory. The firm has actively engaged in student employment and startup for students and recruited three undergraduates as interns during this winter session alone, contributing to nurturing talents. Kim said, “It has been ten years since I joined Ewha. During the first five years, I conducted research on genomics, bioinformatics and systems biology, which are my major field of study. Over the last five or six years, I focused on combining my previous research with development of new drugs, which led to the establishment of a venture firm.” "I want to contribute to bringing innovation to drug development through the convergence of data science and biomedical science," he added. Over the last couple of years, the Department of Life Science saw excellent members of the faculty launching a startup company, including Kang Sang Won (Vastera, inflammatory regulation), Bae Yun Soo (Celros Biotech, vascular disease treatment), and Shim Hyunbo (Curocell, Anticancer immunotherapy).
- No.501
- Writer
- Date2020.02.10
- Views16830
500
Students from the College of Pharmacy Published Theses in Renowned International Journals in Succession

Students from the College of Pharmacy of Ewha Womans University continue to publish theses in prestigious international journals. Undergraduates are producing prominent research results through the curriculum of practice with professors and graduate students, breaking the stereotype that “only graduates can write outstanding papers” and promoting the research capacity and academic excellence of “Ewha pharmacy” at home and abroad. Park Soo-min, who is in the sixth year of the College of Pharmacy, and Lee Na-ri on a master's degree program (academic adviser: Gwak Hye-sun) published “Association between glutathione-S-transferase gene polymorphisms and responses to TKI treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: a meta-analysis” as co-first authors and their paper was posted on the website of Targeted Oncology. In this study, the team of the College of Pharmacy proved the correlation between genetic polymorphisms (mutation) of glutathione-S-transferase enzymes, which are amino acids produced by our body itself, and therapeutic responses of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI), an anticancer drug. The findings of this study are significant as the analysis of the relationship between gene mutations of an individual patient as a genetic disorder and the treatment responses of an anticancer drug has emerged as an important task for cancer research. Another paper titled “PGC-1α, a potential therapeutic target against kidney aging” was also published in the October issue of Aging Cell, one of the top international journals in the related field. The paper was written by Kim Yoo-jeong, Ko Min-ji, and Yu In-young (academic adviser: Ha Hun-joo), all of whom attained a bachelor's degree in Pharmacy in February 2019, and the authors conducted the study as part of an in-depth research practice. While various research is being conducted on “healthy aging” strategies as the aging of population becomes a global trend, the research team of Ewha drew attention with their research showing that activating PGC-1α, a key regulator of energy metabolism, could be an effective strategy to inhibit the aging of kidney. Ewha’s College of Pharmacy, established in 1945 as the first four-year pharmaceutical college in Korea, will continue to take the lead in nurturing integrated professionals in pharmacy with global capabilities.
- No.499
- Writer
- Date2020.02.10
- Views16980
498
Ewha Graduates’ Promotion in Companies Testifies to Power of Ewha Network

With Korea’s leading companies executing their executive personnel appointment in 2020, a series of Ewha graduates’ promotion drew attention. Ewha Leads Prominence of Women and Those in Their Forties In the regular executive personnel appointment for the year 2020 announced on January 20, Samsung Electronics promoted Song Myung-ju (Science Education, class of 1992), Lee Gwi-ho (Library & Information Science, class of 1998), and Lim Gyung-ae (Interior & Fashion Design, class of 1997). Song Myung-ju was promoted to head of the global PM division (senior vice president), Lee Gwi-ho was promoted to head of the advertisement business group of the CD division (vice president), and Lim Gyung-ae to head of the UX innovation group of the household appliance division (vice president). They are among those promoted to executives in their forties. In this appointment, which focused on strengthening the future CEO candidate pool, three out of five newly appointed female executives are Ewha graduates, which proves the power of Ewha network. Also, Kwon Hyun-jeong (Sociology, class of 1996), leader of business division 14 in Cheil Worldwide, was promoted to vice president, and Park Gyeong-hee (English Literature, class of 1990), head of the SNI business division of Samsung Securities, was promoted to executive vice president. Cho Eun-kyung (Statistics, class of 1994), leader of Customer Journey TF of BDA Center of the marketing division in Samsung Card, was promoted to vice president, becoming the only female executive in the company. Power of Ewha Network In the executive personnel appointment announced by Hyundai Motor Group on December 27, all of the three newly appointed women executives are Ewha alumnae. In the appointment focused on female executives and those in their forties, head of the human resource department 1 in Hyundai-Kia Motor Song Mi-young (Educational Technology, class of 1999), leader of the regional strategy team in Hyundai Motor Lee In-a (Law, class of 1996), and head of Genesis customer experience team Lee Hyung-a (History, class of 1993) were promoted to vice president in their respective groups for the accomplishment they achieved with their expertise and experience. In a company where the number of female executives was relatively low, it is exceptional that three women employees were promoted to executives all at once. As Ewha alumnae demonstrated outstanding performance, the number of female executives in Hyundai Motor Group increased to eight. In the executive appointment of GS Group in 2020, Yoon Seon-mi (Law, class of 1995) was newly appointed as an executive. Yoon entered the company through open recruitment, worked as head of the brand business group in GS Home Shopping since 2018, and then was promoted to head of the contents business department in GS Home Shopping (vice president). Marking the 134th anniversary this year, Ewha Womans University has produced female leaders in social, political and cultural areas. Based on the solid network of 230,000 graduates, Ewha Womans University ranked first in the net employment rate of the liberal art departments and fourth in the total employment rate among universities according to the 2019 JoongAng Ilbo University Rankings. Also Ewha produced the largest number of female executives (29 alumnae with a bachelor’s degree) according to the 2019 survey of female executives in Korea’s 100 largest companies.
- No.497
- Writer홍보실
- Date2020.01.30
- Views13487
496
HOKMA College of General Education Held 5th Ewha Ecrire

Ewha’s HOKMA College of General Education (Dean: Choi Hye-Won) hosted the 5th Ewha Ecrire at the Lee San-bong Hall of the ECC building on January 7. Starting in 2016 to improve Ewha students’ capacity in reading and critical thinking, Ewha Ecrire marks its 5th anniversary this year. During the event participated by around 60 undergraduates, competitors for the book review category wrote a book review in a form of an open-book test after having read in advance one of the five required readings including Latin Lesson (Han Dong-il, 2017), Lab Girl (Hope Jahren, 2017), Enough (Wislawa Szymborska, 2016), The Right to Useful Unemployment (Ivan Illich, 2014), and A Field Guide to Getting Lost (Rebecca Solnit, 2018). Contestants for the travel essay category wrote an essay on their domestic or overseas travel experiences. HOKMA College of General Education selected 13 winners including first, second and third places of each category and encouragement prize awardees after three-step evaluations conducted by internal and external professionals. Dean of HOKMA College of General Education Choi Hye-Won emphasized the significance of the competition by saying, “Writing based on deep thinking and reflection is an activity that is still valid and ever more important because it protects human identity and helps us think in a deep and novel way unlike machines in the era of AI.”
- No.495
- Writer홍보실
- Date2020.01.21
- Views11495
494
Center for Entrepreneurship Hosted Diverse Events Promoting Entrepreneurship and Startup Culture

Ewha’s Center for Entrepreneurship (Director: Bahn Hyokyung) held diverse events for students to promote entrepreneurship and career development during the winter break. It hosted an entrepreneurship film festival titled “Entrepreneurial Spirit in Cinema” at the Art House MOMO located in the ECC on January 15. Supported by the Program of National University for Innovation and Transformation, the event was planned to help make entrepreneurship, a rather difficult subject, more accessible to students through the medium of more familiar content, film. Films about feminism, corporate system and AI were shown while a lecture and talk concert titled “Star Your Startup Brain: Startup and Training on Creative Thinking,” hosted by Yoo Seung-Chul, professor at the Department of Communications and Media, prompted exchange of diverse opinions on films, startup, challenging sprit, etc. The Center for Entrepreneurship also held “Ewha Startup Forum” on December 20 to enhance startup mindset among students and encourage networks between entrepreneur graduates and current students. Titled “In Style with Technology,” the forum, which took place at the ECC theater, specifically looked into style-tech which refers to fashion and beauty industry incorporated with Information and Communication Technologies. The program of the event included special lectures and talk sessions examining current industry trends and display booths by a number of style-tech companies. Established on September 2015, Ewha’s Center for Entrepreneurship has promoted education for future entrepreneurs by opening interdisciplinary major programs related to entrepreneurship. It has also supported students to launch a startup and encouraged entrepreneur spirt through diverse programs including Entrepreneurship Mileage, Startup Club (ORDA), Ewha Entrepreneurship & VC Club (EVCC), various startup competitions and Startup Reporters. With these endeavors, the center has earned A level in the BI Performance Assessment in May 2017 and the highest S level in the assessment for the 2019 Center for Entrepreneurship Support Project in April 2019.
- No.493
- Writer홍보실
- Date2020.01.20
- Views16381
492
Ewha Jointly Held ‘Startup Hackathon Camp’ with POSTECH, SNU and KAIST

Ewha Woman’s University in cooperation with Seoul National University, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) held “Startup Hackathon Camp (hereinafter Hackathon Camp),” a credit exchange program for 2019 Winter session. Organized by Ewha’s Center for Entrepreneurship, SNU Entrepreneurship Center, KAIST’s Center for Science-based Entrepreneurship and the POSTECH Entrepreneurship Center and hosted by Ewha’s Center for Entrepreneurship, the program was established to promote entrepreneur spirit among students, enhance the understanding of startup processes and help build personal networks. Hackathon Camp, a short-term intensive curriculum first tried at Ewha, had been open for the Winter 2019 credit exchange program, and pre-registered 25 students from four universities were formed into five teams. These students with diverse backgrounds came up with open and creative ideas, which were later developed into business solutions through lectures and intense mentoring by professors from the four universities and field experts. In addition, methods to find business models and customers to refine the ideas, development of Minimum Viable Product (MVP), analysis of data from landing pages and practice for marketing campaigns all have been followed through in a very short period of 45 hours. The program, open for the first time this year, led to students’ satisfaction as it drew out active participation and discussion, followed by feedback from experts. The Center for Entrepreneurship plans to host more joint programs related to startups such as “Campus CEO IR” with other universities to find outstanding entrepreneurs among students.
- No.491
- Writer홍보실
- Date2020.01.15
- Views10351
490
2019 Ewha Future Innovation Festival was Held

The Center for Future Innovation (Director: Lee Hyunju) held the 2019 Ewha Future Innovation Festival at the Lee San-bong Hall of the ECC building on January 9, 2020 to share the educational innovation cases of universities, selected as the Program of National University for Innovation and Transformation (PoINT), and introduce the outcome of THE Talent Cultivation Program run in Ewha Womans University over the last year. In the festival, which began with an opening speech by Executive Vice President for External Affairs and President of the Office of Education Innovation Choi Dae Seok, President Kim Heisook said, “I hope that this event could present a way towards educational innovation for future talents by sharing the achievements of the PoINT that was conducted over the last year.” Session one began with a presentation on “Innovation of University Education for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” by former President of Chung-Ang University Lee Yong-goo. And then Ewha Womans University, Ajou University, Chung-Ang University, and Hanyang University introduced their educational innovation cases and outcomes resulted from flexible school systems. In the subsequent session, students who participated in the 2019 THE Talent Cultivation Program delivered case presentations and performances. At the ECC Multipurpose Hall, the Center for Future Innovation, Student Counseling Center, Center for Entrepreneurship, and CORE Follow-up Team made booths to promote their programs and provide counseling to students. Also, the outcomes of self-designed semesters in 2019 were displayed at the hall.
- No.489
- Writer홍보실
- Date2020.01.10
- Views10312
488
Jar Housed in Ewha Museum Designated as National Treasure

The Jar with Plum, Bird and Bamboo Design in Underglaze Blue, housed in Ewha Womans University Museum (Director: Jang Namwon) was designated as National Treasure No. 2058 on January 6, 2020. This welcoming news came after the Jar with the Inscription “the 4th Year of Sunwha” was designated as National Treasure in May last year, which makes Ewha Womans University Museum house two pieces of National Treasure and eleven pieces of Treasure. Manufactured between the 15th and 16th century during the early Joseon Dynasty, this jar has plum blossom in the entire body, which creates a splendid image, with birds of various postures infusing vitality into the scene. The tone of blue pigment demonstrates natural shades like those of an ink-and-wash painting. A high level of techniques and painting expression suggests that this jar is white porcelain of the royal kiln of Joseon, made by artists who worked at Joseon’s Royal Academy of Painting. Blue and white porcelain is scarce as it was used by a limited number of people and produced in limited quantity. And this jar has been well preserved in its original shape, and reflects the change of the times when Joseon was about to produce its original blue and white porcelain out of China’s influence. Director Jang Namwon said, “Ewha’s collection has been regarded as significant in terms of the national history and art history and aesthetically valuable, and is finally designated as cultural property. This shows Ewha’s high level of cultural awareness. Ewha has continued to preserve and enjoy our art and culture even in the Japanese colonial era and the Korean War.”
- No.487
- Writer홍보실
- Date2020.01.09
- Views14824
486
Ewha ROTC Held the Third Ewha Martial Festival

Ewha ROTC held the Third Ewha Martial Festival as an event to complete its year-long activities at LG Convention Hall located in the International Education Building on November 28. Ewha Marital Festival, which marked its third anniversary this year, is a yearly ceremony that celebrates cadets’ success and achievements and promotes their morale, emotional development and cooperative spirits. In this event, the cadets presented Taekwon dance, swordsmanship dance, songs, choruses and other various performances. Ewha was selected to operate the ROTC program in February 2016, officially launched its ROTC in November of the same year, and recruited 28 cadets including 20 sophomores and eight freshmen for Ewha ROTC 4th class this year. In particular, among 30 cadets of Ewha ROTC 1st class (57th ROTC), all of them commissioned as a second lieutenant, nine cadets obtained outstanding grades in the training school for five military branches and were awarded a certificate of merit by the Minister of National Defense and the Education and Training Commander. All cadets of Ewha ROTC 2nd class (58th ROTC) passed the comprehensive commissioning test, establishing Ewha ROTC as one of the nation’s best ROTCs.
- No.485
- Writer홍보실
- Date2019.11.29
- Views10068

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