image: Professor Woo Young Jang (Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Korea University Anam Hospital)
Credit: KU Medicine
Professor Woo Young Jang (Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Korea University Anam Hospital) recently won the best paper award at the 2024 fall academic conference of the Korean Musculoskeletal Tumor Society held in November 22th, 2024. This award recognizes the outstanding results and academic value of the research led by Professor Jang.
Professor Woo Young Jang, in collaboration with Professor Jun Seok Lee from the Department of Pharmacology and Dr. Jang Sun Hwang from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Korea University College of Medicine, conducted the research ‘Disaggregation-Activated pan-COX Imaging Agents for Human Soft tissue Sarcoma’. The study led to the development of a novel candidate marker capable of quantitatively assessing the severity and metastasis of sarcomas, along with a fluorescent molecular sensor to target it.
In particular, the study has been recognized as a groundbreaking breakthrough solution to challenges of diagnosing and monitoring the prognosis of sarcomas. This has drawn significant academic attention, with it being featured as the cover article of an international journal.
The new fluorescent probe developed by the research team presents an efficient approach to visualizing cancer stem cells in complex biological samples. Going beyond the limitations of existing cancer diagnostic methods, it offers a new direction for the development of imaging sensors targeting a wide range of biological targets.
Professor Woo Young Jang stated, “I am very pleased that this research is making a practical contribution to the development of diagnostic and prognostic monitoring techniques for sarcoma,” and added, “I look forward to seeing this technology applied to patient treatment in future clinical practice.”