Research
Since there are quite a lot of research gaining on in the lab, It is not easy to summarize all the research in a few words. Still, the summary
of common research in many studies is as follows. For those who are more interested, please check the lab’s research presentation
(academic journals and conferences) of last few years.
· Analysis of Gene-Environment Factors
· In-depth Analysis of Life and Psychosocial Factors
We study diverse diseases such as obesity-metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, cancer(breast and colorectal), ophthalmologicaland dermatological disease, bone health, and asthma-immune diseases. As we are a research institute of various research projects, there isbenefit to have extensive information of blood tests, clinical tests, and genetic analysis data.
One of the greatest strength of epidemiology is that it can directly provide a guideline of healthy living by conducting a research closely relatedto human life. Our lab performs extensive and in-depth analyses of diet, exercise, health behaviors(smoking, drinking, sleeping, etc) and socialpsychological factors (personality, behavior, anxiety, depression, socioeconomic level, etc.) and approaches health problems through these.
· Genome Analysis
Application of the latest genetic analysis methodology is an important part of the lab’s research. We are not a so-called “wet lab” that mainly
performs direct genetic analysis experiments, but managing biological samples such as DNA and understanding experimental concepts are
part of the lab’s activities, and also students interested in experiments are given the opportunity to participate in various cooperative research
institutes. (so-called “moist lab”). Moreover, Graduate School of Public Health is managing automated sequencing machine (illumina MiSeq).
The basic activity of the laboratory is close to “dry lab”. In other words, data processing and epidemiological analysis of vast databases are
major tasks. Range and depth of research and resources accumulated by our lab are competitive not only in Korea but also in the world.
· Personalized Health and Risk Prediction
Unlike before, research that predict the risk of disease at individual level try to use genetic information as well as classic information suchas lifestyle and biomarkers to be more personalized and precise. Thus more than just studying the risk factors of the disease, we also puta lot effort to apply these latest findings to individuals. Moreover, research on personalized health care service is carried out in our lab.For example, not everyone should “reduce obesity, consume a lot green vegetables, exercise regularly, and reduce alcohol” equally. Rather,depending on their genetic factors, we can recommend food, especially dietary supplements they need (nutrigenomics), or tell them moderatedrinking is rather beneficial to health (gene-lifestyle environment interaction). This research methodology is also applied to the study of adversedrug reactions (pharmacogenomics) that occur for each individual condition. Individual risk predictions include customized predictions througha complex pedigree analysis of general risk factors and disease incidences in the family when genetic analysis is not performed. For those whohave been subjected to genotyping, it is possible to predict by family information or independently. In the lab, research is conducted based onvast amount of data for each.