Pukyong National University Student Wins Best Paper Award at SPIE 2025 International Conference

Kang Myungji, Master's Student, Wins Best Paper Award
for Research on Laser Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Kang Myungji, a master's student in the Department of 4th Industrial Convergence Bionics Engineering at Pukyong National University, recently received the Best Paper Award at the ‘SPIE Photonics West 2025’ international conference held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA, organized by the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).

Master's student Kang Myung-ji (right) is taking a commemorative photo with Professor Kang Hyun-wook. Provided by National Pukyong University

At this international conference, he presented the paper titled ‘Study on the Wavelength-Dependent Effects and Mechanisms of Laser Irradiation on Prostate Cancer’ (supervised by Professor Kang Hyunwook) and was awarded the Best Paper Award (BSC Best Paper Award) and a prize of $1,000 from Boston Scientific, a global medical device company.

This study received high evaluation by irradiating four laser wavelengths (405 nm, 532 nm, 635 nm, 808 nm) in the visible to near-infrared range on a prostate cancer xenograft animal model to identify their effects on tumor growth and propose molecular mechanisms.

The study confirmed that the photostimulation effect on cancer promotes the expression of proteins and genes that induce cancer proliferation and angiogenesis within tumors, and highlighted the importance of establishing safety regarding the possibility of recurrence due to stimulation of residual cancer cells during laser treatment.

Master’s student Kang Myungji conducted this research with doctoral student Shin Hwarang and master’s student Jo Jihye from the same department, supported by the Korea Research Foundation’s Science and Engineering University-Focused Research Institute Support Project (Principal Investigator Professor Jung Wonkyo) and the 4th phase BK21 New Senior Customized Healthcare Project (Project Director Professor Lee Byungil), achieving excellent results.

SPIE is the most prestigious society in the field of optoelectronic engineering worldwide, with a cumulative membership of 250,000 from 183 countries. At this year’s ‘SPIE Photonics West 2025,’ over 24,000 photonics technology experts from 75 countries registered, and more than 5,000 papers were presented across the community.