Professor Gou Young Koh of the Department of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Research Center was named a Distinguished Professor of KAIST on March 1.

Koh earned one of the highest recognitions at KAIST by conducting varied research that was published in numerous prestigious scientific journals. He developed a new therapeutic protein for cardiovascular diseases; COMP-Ang 1 is expected to be used as a therapeutic medicine worldwide by inducing blood mass formation.

▲ Professor Gou Young Koh | KAIST PR Team

Koh and his research team made a breakthrough in cancer treatment by developing a Double Anti-angiogenic Protein (DAAP) which is a highly effective molecule in regressing tumor angiogenesis. His research was published as a cover article in the scientific journal Cancer Cell on August 17 of last year. According to Koh, his research opened new possibilities for developing a better cancer medicine with fewer side effects.

Moreover, the January issue of Immunity featured Koh’s research on T lymphocytes negatively regulating lymph node lymphatic vessel formation, also as a cover article. Currently Koh and his team are investigating “in vivo roles of angiopoietins 1, 2, 3 and 4 in blood and lymphatic vascular remodeling in adult mice.”

The American Society of Hematology published his outstanding research in its official peer-review journal Blood on February 4 of last year. In October, Koh joined the editorial board of Blood. With his notable researches, Koh received the "KAISTian of the Year Award" for 2010.

KAIST implemented the Distinguished Professor System in March 2007 and appoints professors with outstanding researches to further encourage their research. Through this program, professors receive incentives and other substantial benefits including an extension of the mandatory retirement age.

Currently there are eight distinguished Professors at KAIST. Choong-Ki Kim of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Kee Joo Chang of the Department of Physics were among the three professors appointed in 2007. Two more professors joined the list the following year: Ryong Ryoo of the Department of Chemistry and Kyu-Young Whang of the Department of Computer Science. Last year, Junho Oh of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Suk-Joong Kang of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering were also named as Distinguished Professors.

These Distinguished Professors are carefully chosen through recommendations and thorough evaluation by the KAIST President, Vice President, head of each of the six colleges, as well as the head of each department. The number of professors selected must be within three percent of all professors on board.

Correction (3/17/2011): Relying on information translated from Korean, it was incorrectly stated that Professor Koh had recently developed the protein COMP-Ang 1. This has been corrected to reflect that the development of COMP-Ang 1 was not recent.

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