ICKSMCB 2019 / 2019 International Conference of the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology / September 17(Mon)-19(Wed), 2019 / COEX, Seoul, Korea

Award Lecture

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Macrogen Scientist Award Lecture

October 2 (Wed), 15:00-15:30, Rm. 401

Chair: Cheol-Sang Hwang, Ph.D.
Department of Life Sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea

Metabolic Syndrome Meets Osteoarthritis

Je-Hwang Ryu, Ph.D.
School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, Korea

Dr. Je-Hwang Ryu received his Ph.D. from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in 2006. After completing his postdoctoral training at GIST and Medical center of Columbia university (USA), he joined Chonnam National University as an assistant professor in 2012. Dr. Ryu is one of the leading scientists in the field of the cartilage and bone degeneration, with an emphasis on crosstalk with other metabolic diseases.

By 2012, Dr. Ryu at GIST and Columbia university had contributed to the discovery of novel transcription factors involving cartilage and bone disorders and published related studies as a first- or co-author in many research papers (Cell, Nature Med, Arthritis Rheum etc.). Dr. Ryu's independent work, since his move to School of Dentistry, Chonnam National University, continued to be first-rate. In particular, he elucidated the diverse roles of hypoxia-inducible factor-2¥á in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (Plos Biology, 2014) and osteoporosis (Bone Res, 2019), and demonstrated the role of LRP5 in osteoarthritis (OA) (Arthritis Res Ther, 2014). The latter paper was recommended by faculty members of Faculty of 1000. Dr. Ryu has been trying to resolve the link between hard-tissue disease and other metabolic disorders. As a result, he identified the correlation between RA and obesity-causing genes and also found genes that control the close correlation between RA and periodontitis. The results of the above studies were published in the highest-ranked papers in the areas of arthritis (Ann Rheum Dis, 2015) and dental research (J dent Res, 2017). Most recently, Dr. Ryu's lab also experimentally demonstrated the direct correlation between cholesterol abnormalities and cartilage destruction for the first time. Dr. Ryu's research indicate that OA is a disease associated with metabolic disorders and suggest that targeting the CH25H-CYP7B1-RORa axis of cholesterol metabolism may provide a therapeutic avenue for treating OA. This research paper has been highly recognized in the field and were published in Nature (2019), one of world's top academic journals. Dr. Ryu serves as an academic board member of KSMCB (Korean society for molecular and cellular biology), KSBMR (Korean society for bone and mineral research) and KSCO (Korean society for cartilage and osteoarthritis).