GC Green Cross Medical Foundation Wins Three Awards at Korean Society of Clinical Chemistry Conference

Director Cho Sung-eun, Specialists Choi Rihwa and Lee Junhyeong Receive Awards

GC Green Cross Medical Foundation (GC Labs) announced on the 23rd that it received three awards-Excellent Paper Award, Outstanding Presentation Award, and Data Analysis Award-at the Korean Society of Clinical Chemistry 2025 Autumn Scientific Conference, held on the 16th and 17th.

On the 16th and 17th, Cho Sung-eun, Director of the ESAC Center at GC Green Cross Medical Foundation, who received the Excellent Paper Award at the Korean Society of Clinical Chemistry 2025 Autumn Scientific Conference, is taking a commemorative photo. GC Green Cross Medical Foundation

The awards received at this conference were as follows: the Excellent Paper Award went to Director Cho Sung-eun for the paper titled "Development and Evaluation of an Automated Sample Preparation Method for Quantitative Analysis of Plasma Metanephrine and Normetanephrine Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry"; the Outstanding Presentation Award was given to Specialist Choi Rihwa for the study "Evaluation of Reference Range for Serum Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) in Korean Adults"; and the Data Analysis Award went to Specialist Lee Junhyeong for "Assessment of Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Exposure Levels in Koreans Using Data from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)."

Through this paper, Director Cho introduced, for the first time in Korea, an automated sample preparation device for the pretreatment stage of mass spectrometry at the Endocrine Substance Analysis Center (ESAC) of GC Green Cross Medical Foundation. The team developed and evaluated the automated sample preparation method in-house, applied it to clinical testing, and shared the development process and evaluation results through the paper. Since the introduction of the automated method, the required pretreatment time has been shortened, reducing the overall testing time. Additionally, the burden on laboratory personnel has decreased, leading to increased job satisfaction, and the pretreatment process can now be performed stably and efficiently regardless of the operator's skill level.

Specialist Choi conducted one of the first domestic studies to evaluate the reference range for parathyroid hormone testing using the 'Roche Elecsys' assay method in Korean adults, providing evidence to improve the clinical interpretation accuracy of test results. From 2020 to 2023, Choi studied serum parathyroid hormone and related biochemical markers in a total of 509 Korean adults and found that parathyroid hormone levels significantly increased in cases of vitamin D deficiency. The study emphasized the importance of considering vitamin D status when interpreting test results, and demonstrated that the reference range for parathyroid hormone may vary depending on statistical methods and related markers, thus highlighting important considerations for evaluating reference ranges and interpreting clinical test results.

Specialist Lee demonstrated, through analysis of data from both the United States and Korea, that the level of perfluoroalkyl substances exposure among Koreans is extremely serious. The study compared PFAS test results from NHANES with baseline data from the National Environmental Health Survey conducted by Korea's Ministry of Environment to relatively assess the exposure levels among Koreans. The comparison of average blood concentrations of PFOA and PFOS between Koreans and Americans showed that, for both substances and across both adolescents and adults, Koreans had statistically significantly higher blood concentrations than Americans. These results indicate that PFAS exposure among Koreans is extremely severe, underscoring the need for heightened awareness and efforts to minimize exposure.

A representative from GC Green Cross Medical Foundation stated, "We were able to achieve excellent results at the conference thanks to our ongoing research," adding, "The foundation will continue to provide accurate and reliable test results through continuous research and development."