CCADD members attended the Annual Conference of the Korean Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (KSCPT), taking place at Sono Belle, Gyeongju, from November 16th to 17th. In this conference, approximately 300 participants shared their insights and findings in the translational pharmacometrics and new drug development realms. 

Representing CCADD, graduate students Tae Kyu and Yoona have delivered oral presentations on the latest advancements in clinical pharmacology and related scientific disciplines at the Conference.

Tae Kyu's oral presentation, centered around the research entitled "Comparison of Machine Learning and Population Pharmacokinetic Models for Predicting Antiepileptic Drug Concentrations Based on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Records," acquired substantial attention, particularly from pharmacometricians. During the presentation and subsequent discussions, he shared insights on how the application of machine learning to clinical pharmacology holds the potential to revolutionize drug development, dosage optimization, and personalized medicine. 

Yoona also presented her research topic, entitled "Country Contribution of Investigators to Pivotal Clinical Trials and THeir Primary Publications of New Drugs Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration," emphasizing the need for Korean researchers to take an active leadership role in key clinical trials to secure opportunities to contribute as authors to primary publications. The audience also agreed with her suggestions and provided constructive feedback, e.g., why it is not easy to be the author in the primary publications. After her presentation, she commented that it was a valuable opportunity to gauge the interest of clinical pharmacologists in that subject matter. 

In this conference, Tae Kyu and Yoona were bestowed with the esteemed "Best Presentation Award," marking a significant achievement and recognition for their outstanding presentation skills. Out of around 50 accepted abstracts, only the 7 presentations were deemed worthy of the best presentation title. Tae Kyu and Yoona's work was further celebrated with a cash prize of 100,000 KRW.

After all the programmed sessions were over, attendants eagerly awaited the prize draw. In a moment of drawing for the first gift, Howard emerged as the fortunate recipient. With his jaws on the floor, Howard made his way to claim his prize, a Bluetooth Sony Headphone. The annual conference held by KSCPT was a stage to celebrate the lab's commitment to excellence and an opportunity to showcase our gratitute for the fortune we have experienced.

In the first quarter of 2021, CCADD got off to a good start with a new project deal with Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC).

Korea’s leading ginseng brand for over a century, KGC has a distinguished track record of making quality dietary products. CCADD, on the other side of the deal, has been receiving high marks on its clinical science expertise. So, the handshake between the two definitely holds the promise of achieving something big and previously unimagined.

And the promise is becoming real. Staring this March, KGC and CCADD set out on a project to develop a mobile healthcare application called ‘Care Now Q.’ Once complete, the mobile application will be the first in the market that utilizes data from medical checkups, direct-to-consumer genetic tests, and health survey results to recommend individualized health guidance and dietary supplement suggestions. For this ambitious project, CCADD will play an active role as a clinical expert and project manager, providing expertise and orchestrating the entire process. This project will be led by Yoomin Jeon (team leader), Jung-Hyun Won, and David Seung U Lee under the supervision of Prof. Howard Lee.

The stakes are high. This project will not only turn the idea of individualized health management into reality but also open the door for CCADD to a new area of research, moving forward.