On May 13th, CCADD tripped to Gogiri, a small mountain village in Yongin, Gyeonggido. It was the first “official” picnic after nearly two years of nationwide lockdown and social distancing mandate. It was chance for refreshment and bonding. Most of all, we celebrated our gratitude toward Dr. Howard Lee—for his support, for his guidance, for everything he has done for us.

The day felt all the more special thanks to Dr. Hyun-Ah Lee. Our respected alumnus took all the trouble to be there. In her presence, we found a sense of guidance and an enticing dose of encouragement. Doohyung, our intern from last year, also joined the herd and doubled the festivity of the occasion.

Assuredly, the giveaway event made our day. In the most cryptic way possible, we gave away an automatic cork opener, a cushion in the shape of a stuffed animal, a severed bracelet, and a greased frying machine, to name a few. The gifts might have gone one way, but our deepening bonds went both ways.

The day felt just right. We gathered. We bonded. We laughed. We said many words. But, they were all about showing our gratitude—toward Dr. Howard Lee, toward one another.

Prof. Howard Lee emphasized the role of regulatory science in the development and fast introduction of advanced medical products including therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, and vaccines to patients in need. He was invited to the fourth series of the Regulatory Science Innovation Forum on May 3, 2022, where Prof. Lee proposed several strategies to facilitate the principles of regulatory science to be implemented in every decision the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) makes. Prof. Lee also stressed MFDS to self-evolve to become a visionary leadership organization through regulatory science, starting from regulatory agency to scientific agency to public health agency. Several newspaper reported what Prof. Lee presented at the forum: 1, 2, and 3. 

A full video clip of Prof. Lee's presentation can be watched by clicking the following YouTube link. 

Prof. Howard Lee was invited to a seminar organized by the Pohang Innovation Salon on March 24, 2022 at the NeoImmuneTech Lounge located in the Bio Open Innovation Center, POSTECH. PIS is an interdisciplinary forum consisting of people with different expertise in drug and device developments. 

Prof. Lee's seminar was entitled 'How to design early clinical development studies', where Prof. Lee introduced the audience to various design issues pertaining to early phase clinical trials with a strong emphasis on the first-in-human study. Prof. Lee also shared his experience in planning, designing, and executing early clinical development studies.

Prof. Lee's professional relationship was dated back to the early start-up days of Genexine, the mother company of NIT. Prof. Lee performed the FIH study of GX-I7 for Genexine, a hybrid Fc-fused human IL-7, the results of which were published a couple of years ago. Furthermore, Prof. Lee conducted a microtracing study with GX-I7, which was sponsored by the Korea Clinical Trials Global Initiative or KCGI.   

The seminar was well-attended by both offline and online participants. 

Three other MDs were also interviewed and the detailed report of Prof. Lee's interview can be found here. 

Prof. Howard Lee was featured at the first episode of FOCUS, a YouTube-based lecture program by Seoul National University Hospital, where Prof. Lee introduced each stage of new drug development. Two additional episodes will be aired through FOCUS soon, i.e., How Covid-19 vaccines were developed and how the Korean biopharmaceutical industry can be a global leader.  

Prof. Lee's first episode can be watched by clicking the following thumbnail;