Professor Dong Wook Han Develops Technology to Generate Integration-free Induced Hepatocyte-like Cells
The research team led by Professor Dong Wook Han of the School of Medicine at Konkuk University developed a technology to generate integration-free induced hepatocyte-like cells from somatic fibroblasts. The generation of the cells using a non-viral, non-integrating, plasmic-based system is expected to facilitate their pharmaceutical and biomedical application. Under the supervision of Professor Han, Ph.D. candidate Mr. Jonghun Kim conducted joint research with the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Germany. The research received support from the Rural Development Administration and National Research Foundation of Korea, and the results were published on the website of Scientific Reports, an online journal from the publishers of Nature, in October 2015.
Professor Jung-Soo Han’s Research to Help People Cope with PTSD
Research by Konkuk University has shown that oxytocin can be therapeutically effective for post-traumatic stress disorder. The research team led by Professor Jung-Soo Han and Dr. Sunyoung Lee of the Division of Specialized Studies within the College of Bioscience & Biotechnology demonstrated that intranasal oxytocin administration reduced the detrimental neurocognitive effects of stress. The non-invasive method also presented new possibilities for drug administration to the central nervous system as well as clinical treatment for stress-related disorders, including depression. The research received funding from the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning and the National Research Foundation of Korea, and the results were published in December 2015 on the website of Scientific Reports.
Professor Youn-Joo An Proposes Hazardous Concentration of Silver Nanoparticles for the Protection of Aquatic Ecosystems
Professor Youn-Joo An of the Department of Environmental Health Science at Konkuk University and her research team proposed that the concentration of silver nanoparticles should be less than 0.614 μg/L in order to protect aquatic ecosystems. In the study, the research team conducted multispecies toxicity tests, including acute assays using eight species from five different taxonomic groups—bacteria, algae, flagellates, crustaceans and fish—and chronic assays using six species from four different taxonomic groups—algae, flagellates, crustaceans and fish. Then a hazard concentrations of 0.614 μg/L was derived using a species sensitivity distributions approach. The research received support by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning and the National Research Foundation of Korea, and was also part of a National Institute of Environmental Research project. The results of the research was published in December 2015 on the website for Nanotoxicology with Ph.D. candidate Ms. Jin Il Kwak listed as the first author.