Professor Kiseungjung of Chonnam National University Hospital Selected for National Institute of Health Research Project

Kiseungjung, Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Chonnam National University Hospital.

Chonnam National University Hospital announced on June 4 that Kiseungjung, Professor of Laboratory Medicine (Director of the Biomedical Research Institute), has been selected for the "Global Biomarker Development Research for Early Evaluation of Tuberculosis Treatment Efficacy," a project led by the National Institute of Health under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

This research by Professor Kiseungjung aims to develop a new global biomarker that can rapidly and accurately assess the efficacy of tuberculosis treatment at an early stage, thereby contributing to the establishment of personalized treatment strategies for patients and improving treatment success rates. To achieve this, the study will identify clinical and biological indicator candidates that change during the treatment period in tuberculosis patients and develop a treatment efficacy monitoring biomarker that can be used globally.

Utilizing the developed biomarker is expected to help prevent unnecessary prolonged treatment, reduce the recurrence rate of tuberculosis, and lower the incidence of drug-resistant tuberculosis, thereby contributing to improvements in public health. The research will proceed as follows: ▲ Identification of clinical and biological biomarker candidates for monitoring and determining treatment efficacy (Year 1); ▲ Analysis of changes in biomarker candidates before, during, and after tuberculosis treatment (Year 2); ▲ Proposal of a new, comprehensive, and globally applicable treatment response monitoring biomarker by integrating individual clinical data, test information, and biological indicators from tuberculosis patients (Year 3).

This research will continue until 2027 and will receive a total research grant of 600 million KRW.

Professor Kiseungjung stated, "We have continuously collaborated with the National Institute of Health under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on research into various immunological mechanisms and biomarkers for infectious diseases," and added, "Through this research, we aim to contribute to shortening the tuberculosis treatment period by introducing short-term treatment methods and utilizing innovative monitoring biomarkers."