Department of Parasitology

History

1982.03.01. : Department of parasitology was founded.
1988.03.01. : Graduate school began offering courses on Medical parasitology.
___________Professor Shon WM was appointed the first chairmen of the department.
1996.09.01. : Professor Kho WG was appointed the 2nd chairmen of the department.
1998.08.19. : Institute of Malariology was founded and Professor Kho WG was appointed as the first director of ___________the institute.
1999.10.29. : A collaborative research agreement with Osaka Institute of Technology was made.
2000.01.31. : A collaborative research agreement with LG Chem Research Park was made.
2000.07.01. : A collaborative research agreement with Samsung Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd. was made.
2001.09.19. : Agreements for the transfer of technology and collaborative research on new malaria diagnostic
___________methods with Bioneer inc. was made.
2002.05.06. : A new malaria diagnostic primer kit were released by Bioneer inc.
2002.11.07. : A collaborative research agreement with International Medical Center of Japan was made.
2003.04.01. : Institute of Malariology was integrated into Paik Memorial Institute for Clinical Research and
___________renamed Department of Malariology.
2004.03.01. : A collaborative research agreement with Asan Pharm. Co., Ltd. was made.
2005.12.23. : A collaborative research agreement with Dinona Inc. was made.
2006.04.10. : A collaborative research agreement with Bioland. Co., Ltd. was made.
2007.07.01. : A collaborative research agreement with Bioneer inc. was made.
2009.09.01. : A new realtime malaria diagnostic kit were released by Bioneer inc.
2009.12.01. : Department of Malariology renamed Department of Infectious diseases and Malaria.

Members

1. Kho Weon-Gyu (Professor) wgkho@inje.ac.kr 051-890-6731
2. Lee Han Na (Teaching assistant) nnnnnn1213@inje.ac.kr 051-890-6732
3. Lee Ga young (Ph. D course) para.leegy@gmail.com 051-890-6732
4. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi (Master course) kimchi.dvn@gmail.com 051-890-6732

Education

1) Medical school
The educational goals of the department of parasitology are to produce primary care physicians who have competencies to care patients with parasitic diseases. The department provide education for medical students to learn knowledge, attitudes and technologies required for clinical practice.
① The class on Medical Parasitology was first opened for sophomore medical school students in 1982.
② As the curriculum for integrated medical education was partly introduced to the medical school in 1990, the department of parasitology was involved in teaching some integrated courses.
③ The curriculum of the medical school reorganized to introduce integrated medical education entirely in 1996. The class on Medical Parasitology was closed and the department of parasitology has been involved in teaching several courses including infection, digestive organ, nervous system, respiratory system, and medical scientist.

2) Graduated school
The goal of graduated program of the department is to prepare graduate students for careers in research and teaching in Medical Parasitology and related disciplines.
① The Medical Parasitology classes were first established in 1988.
② So far fifteen students received master's or doctoral degree, and two students attend the program.

Research

Research of the department focuses on malaria. The department studied on epidemiology of malaria in the nation when the malaria reemerged in 1990's. New technologies for accurate and rapid diagnosis were developed by the department. The mechanisms that vivax malarial parasite invades human red blood cell has been studied to develop effective malarial vaccine.

1) Publications
_① Epidemiological studies on national malaria epidemics
__∙ Korean J Infect Dis (1997) 29(6): 525-530
__∙ Korean J Parasitol (1998) 36(4): 241-248
__∙ Korean J Parasitol (1999) 37(2): 71-76
__∙ J Korean Med Assoc (2000) 43(8): 761-767
__∙ Inje Medical J (2002) 23(1): 73-89
__∙ J Veterinary Sci (2003) 4(1): 23-30
__∙ J Korean Med Assoc (2007) 50(11): 959-966
_② Genetic characteristics of Plasmodium vivax isolated from Korea∙Korean J Parasitol (1999) 37(4): 265-270
__∙ Korean J Parasitol (2001) 39(2): 143-150∙Korean J Parasitol (2001) 39(4): 313-318
__∙ Parasitol Res (2003) 90(4): 325-329
__∙ Clin Vaccine Immunol (2009) 16(5): 733-738
__∙ J Infect Chemother (2009) 15(1): 27-33
__∙ Korean J Parasitol (2009): 47(suppl): 51-58
_③ Population genetics on vivax malaria
__∙ Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2002) 99(25): 1648-1653
__∙ Malar J (2010) 25(9): e184
__∙ PLoS Negl Trop Dis. (2012) 6(4): e1592
__∙ PLoS Negl Trop Dis. (2013) 7(10): e2522
_④ Development of diagnostic methods for malaria
__∙ Korean J Clin Pathol (2001) 21(1): 67-71
__∙ Parasitol Int (2003) 52(3): 229-236
__∙ Acta Trop (2011) 120(1-2): 40-45
_⑤ Development of malaria vaccine
__∙ Biochem Biophys Res Commun (2004) 320(2): 563-570
__∙ Clin Vaccine Immunol (2007) 14(6): 726-731
__∙ J Microbiol Biotechnol (2007) 17(10): 1670-1674
_⑥ Clonorchiasis and other parasitic diseases
__∙ Am J Trop Med Hyg (1994) 51(3): 281-285
__∙ J Parasitol (2002) 33(5): 1000-1006
__∙ Parasitol Res (2003) 91: 316-320
__∙ Parasitology (2005) 130(2): 239-246
__∙ Jpn J Ophthalmol (2010) 54(4): 370-372
__∙ J Korean Med Assoc (2012) 55(1): 49-55

2) Patents and Products
__∙ 2002 Patent registration. Sustained release compositions comprising praziquantel for anthelmintic agent (Rep.
__ of Korea)
__∙ 2002 Patent application. Sustained-releasing anthelmintic compositions comprising praziquantel (Japan and
__ 17 countries)
__∙ 2007 Patent registration. Human monoclonal antibodies which block invasion of Duffy binding protein of
__ Plasmodium vivax to human erythrocyte using antibody phage display (Rep. of Korea)
__∙ 2001 Patent application. The simultaneous detecting method of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax
__ (Rep. of Korea)
__∙ 2007 Patent application. Method for pegylating human monoclonal antibody and antibody from same method
__∙ 2002 Products Malaria diagnostic primer set
__∙ 2009 Products AccuPower® Malaria Quantitative PCR Kit

Service to society

1) Academic society
Participating as responsible members of national and international academic societies the members of the department contribute to the academic and scientific development.
2) Consulting
The members of the department provide advice and suggestions to the government's requests on heath problems due to malaria and parasitic diseases. The members provide consulting service as doctors and public requested