Professors Kim and Kwon Speak at Yeungnam University College of Pharmacy in Korea

The research findings and expertise of two St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions faculty members, Professors Kwon H. Kim and Chul-Hoon Kwon, were shared with colleagues, faculty and graduate students when they addressed the International Symposium on Pharmaceutical Sciences in Drug Development at Yeungnam University College of Pharmacy in Gyeongsan, South Korea, September 24th.  The symposium was held in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Yeungnam’s College of Pharmacy. The university is located in a suburb south of Taegu, South Korea’s third largest city.

Associate Professor of Pharmacy Kim spoke about “Direct Brain Delivery of CNS Compounds through the Olfactory Region Following Intranasal Administration.” Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Kwon spoke about “Anti-Cancer Prodrug Design.” (A prodrug is sometimes referred to as a precursor of a drug, as it is a compound that when administered, must undergo chemical conversion by a metabolic process before becoming an active pharmacologic agent.) Although Korean by birth, the St. John’s professors gave their addresses in English, the language used for graduate research discussion. “The Symposium was a global education program,” says Professor Kim. “It was beneficial to me to hear the other presentations in addition to speaking. There were two professors from Japan, two from Korea, and three from the United States who addressed the Symposium.”

There were three topics addressed at the Symposium:  Medicinal Chemistry (the synthesis of new drugs), Pharmacology and Drug Delivery. Professor’s Kwon’s lecture on anti-cancer prodrug design fell under Medicinal Chemistry; Professor Kim’s lecture on intranasal administration of compounds fell under the Drug Delivery area.

Professor Kwon’s research focuses on designing more effective cancer drugs to treat solid tumors, “which are particularly resistant,” he says, “to radiation and chemotherapy.” His presentation focused on research conducted in his own laboratory on some of the recent efforts of anti-cancer prodrug design “with a particular emphasis on the exploitation of selective enzyme processes for their activation.”

Professor Kim’s lecture discussed his research on improving the efficiency of the intranasal administration of drugs to deliver central nervous system (CNS)-acting drugs to the brain and spinal cord. His presentation discussed the direct transport and targeting efficiency of some selected low- and large- molecular-weight CNS compounds to the brain after intranasal administration. “The intranasal olfactory pathway is a promising non-invasive route for drug delivery to the CNS that has a great potential for the more effective treatment of brain tumors, neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, and other CNS disorders,” he says. “The advantage to this system is that it can bypass the blood-brain barrier and blood-cerebrospinal barrier that prevent the utilization of many therapeutic agents for treating CNS disorders.” Professor Kim’s research laboratory has been supported by grants through the Academia-Industry Collaboration Agreement between St. John’s University and SK Bio-Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Fairfield, New Jersey, over the past seven years.

Professor Kwon estimates that approximately 250 students, faculty members and other guests were in attendance. Some of them, including graduate students, hail from other countries. “Participating was a great opportunity to show our (St. John’s) presence not only to Yeungnam University, but also to the other university representatives,” he says. Both professors said it was beneficial for them to hear the other presentations in addition to speaking.

Yeungnam University College of Pharmacy has a very cordial relationship with St. John’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions. Yeungnam’s dean and several professors visited St. John’s a few years ago, at which time Dean Robert Mangione suggested that Professors Kwon and Kim would make ideal participants in the pharmaceutical sciences program at Yeungnam University. It was this suggestion that Dean Mangione believes resulted in the invitation for them to speak at the recent Yeungnam College of Pharmacy Symposium.

“Their participation as experts, rather than as invited guests, is outstanding international recognition for Drs. Kim and Kwon as outstanding scholars at a high-level international conference,” says Dean Mangione.