Professor Gil Hyowook of Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital Selected for NRF Mid-career Research Project

Study on Diagnostic and Therapeutic Agents for Metabolic Encephalopathy Caused by Acute Renal Failure

Professor Hyoouk Kil of the Department of Nephrology at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital will begin research supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea to discover diagnostic and therapeutic substances for metabolic encephalopathy caused by acute renal failure.

Professor Gil Hyowook from the Department of Nephrology at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, has begun research to identify diagnostic and therapeutic substances for metabolic encephalopathy caused by acute kidney injury.

This research follows the selection of Professor Gil's project, "Elucidation of the Kidney-Brain Axis through Glucose Metabolism in Metabolic Encephalopathy Induced by Acute Kidney Injury," as a mid-career research project under the Individual Basic Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea. The project will receive funding of 210 million KRW and will be conducted until August 2027.

Through this study, Professor Gil plans to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of metabolic encephalopathy, such as impaired consciousness and delirium, in patients with acute kidney injury, and to identify target substances through animal experiments using single-cell transcriptome and metabolome analyses.

Professor Gil Hyowook stated, "The target substances are crucial for diagnosing and treating changes in consciousness that occur in patients with acute kidney injury," adding, "The identified substances will be highly useful in clinical settings, including the development of new drugs in the future."