IESEH and CHECK Hosted a Symposium Celebrating Their 1st Anniversary
- Date2023.03.23
- 6583
IESEH and CHECK Hosted a Symposium Celebrating Their 1st Anniversary
College of Medicine (Dean: Eun-hee Ha), Medical Center (President: Kyung Ha Ryu), and Seoul Clinical Laboratories (SCL) co-hosted a symposium to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Institute of Ewha-Seoul Clinical Laboratories for Environmental Health (IESEH) and the Children’s Environmental Health Clinic in Korea (CHECK) on March 2nd (Wed.) at Gyerim Hall on the third floor of Esther Building.
▲ A Celebratory Symposium for marking the 1st anniversary of the Institute of Ewha-Seoul Clinical Laboratories for Environmental Health (IESEH) and Children’s Environmental Health Clinic in Korea (CHECK)
The symposium was moderated by Jung Won Lee, the head of the IESEH, and served as a venue for sharing achievements from the past year and updates on the current status of operating the CHECK, the first such clinic in South Korea, and discussing the future research plans. President Ryu and Kyoung-Ryul Lee, the CEO of the SCL Health Care Group, gave a welcome speech and a congratulatory speech at the beginning of the symposium.
“In today’s society where CSR is considered important, many people would agree that the environment is the most important factor in maintaining their health. I hope SCL environment research by the Seoul Hospital, College of Medicine, and Seoul Clinical Laboratories will be presented as the model ESG management in the medical industry through this symposium,” said President Ryu.
In his congratulatory speech, CEO Lee highlighted the research’s significance: “I think research and treatment of environmental factors affecting the health of young people, from fetuses to teenagers, is a very fitting example of ESG management, which is getting viral these days, and I hope the College of Medicine, the first medical school for women, and SCL, the first test and research institution in South Korea, would build a better future for children.”
Hyemin Jang, a researcher from the Graduate School of Public Health at Seoul National University, gave a presentation about her in-depth analysis of 4 diseases out of 48 (urinary tract infection, allergic rhinitis, acute otitis media, and Kawasaki disease) which was the result of her research hypothesis that the increase in fine dust concentration can push up the risk of developing pediatric diseases. Jongmin Oh, a researcher from the Department of Environmental Medicine at Ewha, gave a presentation about a future research plan for the IESEH. Researcher Oh said, “Children’s environmental health and pediatric research has been the main focus in the first year, but we will continue to expand our expertise to not only women’s health but also to cardiovascular and endocrine diseases in two or three years’ time.”
Ji Hyen Lee, a professor at the pediatrics department at the Seoul Hospital, reported the current status of operating the CHECK and the cases of child patients. She said she will address children’s health issues related to toxic chemicals – fine dust, heavy metals, and hormone mimics – and will expand the scope of local community investigations and children checkups, as well as write a book to educate people about children’s environmental health.
General comments by professor Yun-Chul Hong from the Department of Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine at Seoul National University and Professor Sung Chul Jung, the director of Ewha Medical Research Institute followed the presentations, and Dean Ha’s announcement of future plans and acknowledgment speech marked the end of the symposium. “Utilizing the past year’s experiences in research of environmental health and operating the clinic for children’s environmental health, and producing educational content and guidelines for protecting children and women’s health from toxic environments,” said Dean Ha, suggesting the vision.
Ewha Womans University intends to take this symposium as an opportunity for taking IESEH and CHECK – landmark research and specialized clinics of Ewha College of Medicine and Ewha Medical Center – to another level, educating future values in cooperation with the government, schools, municipal organizations, and institutions for environmental education, and widening the international network for sharing related information, working on joint projects and facilitating exchanges of people.