Jang Keun-suk, a Korean actor particularly famous in Japan, will be exempted from regular military service because of his bipolar disorder, and will instead serve as a social worker from mid-July, his agency said.“Jang was categorized as a 4th –degree conscript according to military service law due to ‘manic-depressive illness’ diagnosis at the Military Manpower Administration’s physical e
UCB Korea will undoubtedly lead the domestic epilepsy treatment market, its CEO said in an interview with Korea Biomedical Review.The Korean unit of the Belgium-based company gained fame with the 1993 release of the allergy medication Zyrtec. The drugmaker has strengthened its expertise in neurology by releasing blockbuster drugs such as antihistamine Xyzal in 2004 and antiepileptic drug Keppr
The advent of artificial intelligence and big data is fundamentally changing the way industries operate. In healthcare, the changes have been slow but remain imperative for both physicians and patients who need to provide and receive better care.Digital technology is coming to sweep the healthcare industry, and it is going to profoundly affect the way physicians treat and interact with patient
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution is afoot, the medical sector has also increased its interest in areas such as block-chain technology and artificial intelligence. Medibloc, however, turned its head to cryptocurrency, an area not yet explored by the medical community.Lee Eun-sol, the CEO of Medibloc, sums up his company’s plans as combining block-chain technology and cryptocurrency into givi
She defected from North Korea 15 years ago, crossing over into China, Vietnam, and Cambodia before finally reaching and entering South Korea. The process was “relatively” trouble-free. There was one thing she had not expected, however -- the constant, reoccurring nightmares that followed her for three years. “I was never tortured or taken away in the North. I didn’t experience
Dr. Hong Waun-ki, an internationally renowned Korean-American oncologist, has built a colorful personal and professional resume throughout more than 40 years in academic medicine.Hong is a professor at the Department of Thoracic, Head and Neck Medical Oncology at MD Anderson, a professor at the American Cancer Society and Samsung Distinguished University Chair Emeritus, having published nearly
More than 10,000 doctors rallied on the streets of Seoul to call for the immediate end of the so-called Moon Jae-in Care and a proper system for the lives of the critically ill.Physicians warned that they would fight back with more force through nationwide campaigns if the government were to enforce the “Mooncare,” which is President Moon Jae-in’s policy of drastically expanding national healt
There is an Asian proverb saying “it is better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times.”Using the proverb as a company slogan, Health Breeze provides animated videos for patients to help them better understand the disease and inform them about details of the treatment and surgery processes.The company offers service called “HiChart” for large hospitals and “Health Breez
A significant reason for the lack of development in Korea’s medical device sector is the regulatory environment that provides little incentive for people to develop innovative new technology, Professor Kim Nam-kug says.Professor Kim is an engineer in medicine. As an assistant professor of convergence medicine and radiology at Asan Medical Center and member of the New Industry Investment Counci
“Medical education is all about how to make good doctors through education in a continuum. Because medicine is continually changing and something new is coming, you have to keep studying. Medical education starts from undergraduate studies and lasts a lifetime,” Professor Ahn Duck-sun said.Ahn, recently designated as the winner of the Korea Medical Association-Pfizer International Cooperation
Underweight people are more likely to be dissatisfied with life and commit suicide in Korea, a recent study showed.The research team, led by Hong Jin-pyo, a professor at psychiatry department of Samsung Medical Center, surveyed 5,905 Korean adults aged between 18 and 74 for the “Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area Replication.”The researchers analyzed the association between body mass
The global healthcare landscape is changing. Lynda Chin, an internationally renowned physician and executive director of the Real-world Education, Detection and Intervention (REDI) at the University of Texas, says an endless stream of information and continual updates in technology is changing the role of the physician.Adaption by both hospitals and physicians is the key to thriving in the wav
Regulatory reform should come first to innovate the healthcare sector with rapidly advancing technologies, foreign experts emphasized Thursday.Attending the Korea Healthcare Congress 2018 at Seoul Dragon City in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, experts from various countries noted that the medical sector needs innovations in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Tony Corkett, Strategic
Winds of change are blowing in National Cancer Center. Stirring up the wind is Dr. Lee Eun-sook, the first female president of NCC. Since she took office four months ago, Lee has worked without stopping to create a foundation for changes by, for instance, introducing staff rotation system to an organization that had seldom seen personnel reshuffle. President Lee said she hoped NCC, which met
“Genetic big data will revolutionize drug development.”Tyson Kim, CEO of Syntekabio and the front-runner in converging drug development and information technology (IT), said so. Kim was explaining how big data and artificial intelligence (AI) will change the current drug development procedure.Kim, a graduate of Inha University School of Medicine, has had a unique journey to lead one of the
On one of her middle school days, Lee Eun-ju saw a poster that depicted a tree bearing both tomato and a potato. While most teenagers her age would’ve just passed it by, Lee found the picture terrific and felt an urge to create something like it.So began her journey toward a stem cell researcher. Lee majored in biotechnology at Daegu University, got her masters in genetic engineering from
An extreme right-wing physician has won the election on Friday to become president of the Korean Medical Association, a group of more than 120,000 doctors in Korea.Choi Dae-zip, who has been actively working for far-right groups such as Freedom Pioneer Youth Group and One Free Korea Liberation Army, won 6,392 votes, or 29.7 percent of the total 21,547 valid votes, earning more than 2,000 votes
Cancer immunotherapy Opdivo has become a new growth engine for Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea Pharmaceutical, following the patent expiration of anticancer drug Taxol, antithrombotic Plavix (Sanofi-Aventis Korea having the sales license), and hepatitis B treatment Baraclude.BMS Korea said it would enhance its leadership in the cancer immunotherapy market by concentrating on the studies of Opdivo
A group of Korean researchers has revealed the mechanism of cofilin, a protein necessary for the development and synapse formation of neurons, for the first time in the world.When a problem occurs in the development of the brain nerve cell, various brain diseases, including a mental disorder, can appear.The research team led by Professor Min Kyung-tae of Ulsan National Institute of Sci
“As Gilead Sciences pursues cure of all diseases, I wouldn’t mind sales decline.”So said CEO Lee Seung-woo when asked how Gilead Sciences Korea would deal with falling global revenues of Gilead Sciences. The pharmaceutical firm’s revenue has been on a steady decline due to sliding sales of Sovaldi and Harvoni, the hepatitis C treatments that had led Gilead’s revenue growth for years. The s