The 1st Im Seong-gi Researcher Award Grand Prize, Dr. Kim In-san of Korea Institute of Science and Technology

Young Researcher Award, Professor Hyukjin Lee, Ewha Womans University College of Pharmacy · Professor Youngseok Joo, KAIST Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Dr. Kim Insan, a principal researcher at the Bio-Medical Convergence Research Division of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), was selected as the first grand prize winner of the Im Seonggi Researcher Award.

On the morning of the 22nd, the Im Seonggi Foundation stated, "Dr. Kim expressed a protein called 'SIRPα' on the surface of human-derived protein nanocages (ferritin) to enable the body to better recognize cancer and induce an immune response. He also loaded anticancer drugs that induce immunogenic cell death of cancer cells inside the nanocages, thereby establishing an efficient anticancer immune system platform," explaining the reason for his selection.

The foundation added, "the technology has proven its efficacy in anticancer effect tests using animal models" and "it is expected to be widely utilized in the development of new-concept anticancer drugs in the future."

The 'Young Researcher Award,' aimed at researchers under the age of 45, was awarded to Professor Lee Hyukjin of Ewha Womans University College of Pharmacy and Professor Joo Youngseok of KAIST Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering.

Professor Lee, who has conducted joint research with Professor Robert Langer, founder of Moderna, developed a foundational technology for lipid nanoparticles (LNP) capable of stable and cell-specific mRNA delivery. This technology is evaluated to contribute not only to vaccines but also to the development of treatments for intractable diseases such as cancer.

Professor Joo was the first in the world to elucidate the mechanism by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the cause of COVID-19 infection, damages the human lung using 3D alveolar cell culture technology (organoids). He established a platform to rapidly screen candidate therapeutic substances for virus control, which is expected to play a significant role in preventing COVID-19 and new infectious disease outbreaks.

The Im Seonggi Researcher Award is a life sciences and medical sciences award established by the Im Seonggi Foundation to inherit the new drug development philosophy of the late Im Seonggi, founder of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group. This is the first award ceremony. The grand prize winner will receive a plaque and a prize of 300 million KRW, and the two young researcher awardees will each receive a plaque and a prize of 50 million KRW.

Lee Gwansoon, chairman of the Im Seonggi Foundation, said, "The awardees received this honor due to their high-level scientific achievements as well as research results with high applicability in the field of new drug development."

The first Im Seonggi Researcher Award ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on March 2 next year at Lotte Signiel Seoul in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

Professor Lee Hyuk-jin of Ewha Womans University College of Pharmacy (left) and Professor Joo Young-seok of KAIST Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering