"A tenure professor’s calling is in developing a new drug"

Professor Dongwook Kim (Hematology/Oncology, Eijeongbu Eulji Medical center, Eulji University)

Nests at Eulji after 30 years of service at Catholic University Hospital … “want to continue research without worrying about retirement”

Passionate about advancing the treatment of CML, from genome analysis, new drug development, to use of AI in diagnosis

On August 24th, the Hemato-Oncology Department of the Eijeongbu Eulji Medical Center was busy preparing for its new occupant.

 

Professor Dongwook Kim (60), who looked new to his office, was busy discussing matters with various visitors including the hospital employees.

 

Although the center had opened less than 6 months ago, its Hematol-Oncology Department looked more vibrant than ever.

 

Professor Dongwook Kim, one of the leading authorities in the field of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), had joined Eijeongbu Eulji Medical Center of the Eulji University after serving 30 years at the Seoul St.Mary’s Hospital.

 

During his term at Seoul St.Mary’s Hospital, Professor Kim had made many first-ever achievements.

 

At St.Mary's Kim had led the research of the first targeted therapy, ‘Gleevec,’ and many other next-generation drugs, and had also led the study on ‘Supect,’ the only locally developed targeted therapy for CML.

 

His focus on gene analysis, to identify the causes why patients show different treatment effects, had laid the grounds for Korea's treatment environment to advance into precision medicine.

 

Kim's efforts paid off, and the Seoul St.Mary’s Hospital became the first hospital to establish a center specializing in blood disorders - the Catholic Hematology Hospital - at which Kim served as the founding director.

 

Professor Dongwook Kim

When asked about why he joined Eijeongbu Eulji Medical Center after achieving so much, Kim's answer was “to conduct more research for a longer period of time.” Kim talked about a professor he met at the International Society of Hematology conference.

 

The professor, who was over 90, came to chair one of the discussion sessions with a cane in one hand.

 

This had left a deep impression in Kim’s mind.

 

Also, he said that there are professors over the age of 80 in the Leukemia Network, for which 35 experts around the globe meet every 5 years to establish the standard of care for CML.

 

Unfortunately, the circumstances at St.Mary’s Hospital were unfit for a professor to continue researching for the rest of his life.

 

In medical schools in Korea, professors generally retire from his/her university at age 65, and stays as a professor emeritus, then continues work at a different hospital for 5 years before retiring.

 

“As a director, I’ve watched many of my seniors retire.

 

These able professors perform surgeries until the last day of their retirement.

 

After 55 years of age, most professors experience reduced consultation hours and a lack of research labs.

 

I also experienced this.

 

My lab also saw a decline in funding and was on the verge of reducing our staff.

 

In Korea, the government does not give government projects to professors over the age of 60.

 

On the contrary, many senior professors over the age of 80 and even 90 take on research projects in Europe and the U.S.

 

It is that different." With only 5 years left to retirement, Kim was also concerned about his patients, as they require lifelong treatment.

 

Many patients asked professor Kim about his retirement plans.

 

Those that were recently diagnosed showed the most concern.

 

That was why Professor Kim started to consider seeking an environment where he can continue on his research without worries about retirement or lab reductions.

 

And Eijeongbu Eulji Medical Center was the perfect place for Kim.

 

“The Eijeongbu Eulji Medical Center promised full support and a stable environment where I could conduct research with my researchers for a long period of time.

 

Thanks to such support, we are currently setting our new lab in the new building behind.

 

We plan to sign MOUs with KAIST, UNIST, and Kwangwoon University and conduct joint research after my lab officially opens.” Professor Kim said, “We have already been planning various research projects.

 

One is ‘Investigation on the single-cell dynamics related to the occurrence/recurrence of CML,’ which was selected as a research project by the government last year.

 

The project aims to investigate the cause of CML and why the treatment effect differs in each patient." In other words, Kim and his team will attempt to find the cause of different treatment effects by analyzing the patient’s genes and the tens of thousands of cells in their blood.

 

If the team discovers a gene related to leukemia, this may enable personalized treatment for each patient.

 

This is what Professor Kim is investing most efforts in.

 

Also, Kim is actively participating in the development of new drugs like ‘Supect’ in collaboration with bio ventures.

 

Also, he had joined in the development of AI that can recommend appropriate treatment for each patient since 2 years ago.

 

Kim plans to complete the government project within 5 years.

 

Kim believes that the research will enable HCPs to discern which treatment is required for each patient according to their genes.

 

Two new candidates were already discovered for new drug development.

 

Also, the AI that Kim had started developing 2 years ago is now being tested in practice.

 

After inserting all the characteristics of a patient from his/her age, gender, favorite food to genetic disorders, the program selects the most appropriate treatment among the 5 targeted therapies for CML, then recommends further measures according to each patient’s treatment response and side effects such as dose adjustments or discontinuation and switching.

 

The goal is to be able to completely replace experts in the field.

 

One of the questions I encounter most often during lectures is on ‘What drug to select.’ We aim to build an AI that can provide a perfect answer to that question.

 

We are formulating the increase in speed, degree, grade of cancer cells to predict which patients will experience recurrence and how fast.

 

This will allow us to predict how likely a patient may discontinue treatment within 5 years.“