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“I want to contribute as a future medical professional”... Donates 10 million KRW Following the general student government and college of medicine student government, YU students make relay in ‘donations to beat COVID-19’ [April 27, 2020] <College of Medicine Student President Bae Jae-young (second from right) donated 10 million KRW for funds to beat COVID-19 to YU> YU students have been making donations one after the other to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. On the 23rd, Bae Jae-young (24, junior, College of Medicine) handed 10 million KRW to College of Medicine Dean Yoon Sung-soo saying that he wants to help YU overcome COVID-19. Mr. Bae donated the leadership scholarship, etc. that he received after being appointed as the College of Medicine student president for funds to overcome COVID-19. Mr. Bae said, ‘Experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic both directly and indirectly as a future medical professional gave me the chance to think again about the public nature of the health and medicine sector and about the mission of medical professionals.” He added, “I am still a student so I cannot help in the medical field directly, so I wanted to do whatever I could to help.” This is the third donation from YU students. It started with the YU general student government. In March of last year, the YU general student government held a donation campaign to beat COVID-19 where they gathered about 7 million KRW to purchase daily supplies to give to the Daegu Medical Center and YU Medical Center. The student government of the YU College of Medicine also held charity drivers to gather 3.4 million KRW in donations and handed it over to the YU Medical Center on April 2, and voluntary donations have been continuing among students. YU President Sur Gil-soo said, “I am proud of the students doing their best in their given situations to help overcome COVID-19.” He added, “YU will do its best to minimize impact on the studies of students caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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Of the 12 seats of Daegu, 9 from YU Alumni continue to demonstrate political prowess following the 20th general elections and 2018 local elections [April 16, 2020] The alumni power of YU (President Sur Gil-soo) was once again confirmed in the 21st National Assembly elections held on April 15. In these elections, a total of 14 National Assembly members representing their local district and proportional representation graduated from YU. In the district elections, there were many elected in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions. In Daegu, Joo Ho-young (Law class of ‘78) won Suseong (Gap), Kim Yong-pan (Economics ’78) won Dalseo (Byeong), Kim Sang-hoon (Law ‘82) won Seo-gu, Kim Seung-soo (Public Administration ’83) won Buk-gu (Eul), Kang Dae-shik (Graduate School of Business Administration ‘09) won Dong-gu (Eul), Yoon Jae-ok (Graduate School of Business Administration Advanced Management Program ’08, hereinafter called AMP) won Dalseo (Eul), Ryu Seong-geol (AMP ‘15) won Dong-gu (Gap), Hong Seok-joon (AMP ’16) won Dalseo (Gap), and Chu Gyeong-ho (AMP ‘17) won Dalseong. Thus, 9 out of the 12 seats for Daegu were taken by graduates of YU. National Assemblyman Joo Ho-young was elected again in the 21st general elections, thus being voted into office for the fourth time. Also, in Gyeongbuk, Kim Seok-gi (Public Administration ‘71) won Gyeongju, Kim Young-shik (Mechanical Engineering ’78) won Gumi (Eul) and Kim Hee-guk (AMP ‘15) won Gunwi/Uiseong/Cheongsong/Yeongdeok, while in Seoul, Jeon Hae-suk (Pharmacy ’73) won Gwangjin (Gap). Future Korea Party proportional representative no. 9 Cho Myung-hee (AMP ‘16) also joined the 21st National Assembly. In the April 15 re-election and by-elections that were held together with the National Assembly elections, one local government head, one was elected to the metropolitan council and three to the municipal council. Kang Young-seok (Sociology ‘85) was elected as mayor of Sangju, Gyeongbuk, Lee Dong-eop (Food Industry Managment ’08) for the Gyeongbuk Province Council, Kim Sang-ho (MBA ‘20) for the Daegu Dong-gu Council, Yoon Jong-chan (Korean History ’10) for the Gyeongbuk Andong Council, and Jung Chi-rak (Credit Bank System Business Administration) for the Ulsan Buk-gu Council are all from YU. At the 20th National Assembly elections, 16 members were from YU and in the 2018 local elections, a total of 21 members were from YU including 2 metropolitan government heads, 19 local government heads, and one superintendent of education, thus showing the alumni power that is prominent in Korean politics.
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Introduced ‘Google G-Suite Service’ from the first semester of 2020 Can use Google G-SUite with school e-mail accounts Real-time online video lectures and team projects using Classroom and Meet [April 13, 2020] <School of Fine Arts Professor Shin Gi-woon conducting online classes in real-time using Google Meet> G-Suite service (Google G Suite for Education) that YU (President Sur Gil-soo) introduced from the first semester of 2020 is maximizing usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Google G-Suite service is a service that Google offers for free to educational institutions and the Google G-Suite service has become available for YU students and faculty using their college e-mail accounts since March of this year. All YU members having school e-mail accounts including students and faculty can not only use unlimited Google Drive and Mail, but also use other G-Suite services such as Classroom and Meet for educational and research activities as well as administrative work. <Workshop using Google Classroom> Professors can give online video lectures in real-time using Meet and students can share materials needed for class and perform team projects regardless of time and place. In particular, as most college classes are being conducted online due to the spread of COVID-19, it is expected that the use of Google G-Suite will continue to grow for college education. The YU Education Development Center operates study coaching and consulting online in real-time through Meet so that students can continue to engage in self-initiated learning and to strengthen their capacities for self-development. Google G-Suite is being applied for the administrative duties of faculty as well. The efficiency of Google G-Suite can be checked in work-at-home enacted by YU as part of social distancing efforts. YU faculty holds online meetings through Meet and use Google Drive to share various materials in real-time to minimize work deficiencies resulting from work-at-home. YU Systems Operation Team Leader Kim Byung-soo said, “YU has actively reviewed implementing Google G-Suite even before the spread of COVID-19. Members have formed consensus on the utilization of Google G-Suite especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” YU conducts integrated operation for university information systems dispersed per function such as lecture support, e-mail and web drives by implementing the Google G-Suite service, and therefore, it is expected to cut costs significantly compared to operating a proprietary system, not to mention improving education efficiency. YU President Sur Gil-soo said, “As the use of mobile devices such as smart phones continue to grow, it is quickly switching to an environment so that students can study not only in class, but study and communicate wherever they are.” Furthermore, “The university will provide full support to construct ICT infrastructure so that students can learn more efficiently.”
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Evaluated hospitals in 21 countries based on assessment of medical expertise, patient satisfaction, and medical performance index Demonstrated status as a local hub university hospital. [April 14, 2020] <Photo of YU Medical Center> YU Medical Center (Director Kim Sung-ho) was ranked first place in the Yeongnam region for the ‘World’s Best Hospitals 2020’ selected by News Week of the US on the 13th. This survey was conducted through a partnership with the global data survey company, Statista Inc of Germany. It analyzed medical experts (55% national, 5% foreign where hospital is located), patient satisfaction levels, and medical performance indices (KPI) to rank hospitals in 21 countries. When considering that domestic medical experts assessment account for a large portion of the evaluations, the recent ranking shows that YU Medical Center is a prominent hospital that domestic medical experts recommend. In particular, as most of the hospitals in the top 20 are large general hospitals of the capital area including the Big 5, YU Medical Center clearly showed its presence as a leading private university hospital of the region. Director Kim Sung-ho said, “We will not become complacent with these results, but continue to work hard to improve the quality of research and medicine so that more patients can become healthy in the future.”
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College of Music students film videos of them playing the instruments they major in while taking online classes Showing support to students practicing ‘social distancing’ while taking online classes [April 2, 2020] YU College of Music students gathered their talents to perform an online concert to students practicing ‘social distancing’ while taking online classes for this semester that began on the 16th of last month, as well as for everyone helping to beat COVID-19. This ensemble was completed by the students filming themselves playing the instruments they major in and editing the videos to create a single orchestra performance. The students who saw a video of the members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra of the Netherlands that has been trenading on YouTube decided to film themselves playing as well. At this online concert, 25 students at the College of Music majoring in cello, violin, bass, trumpet, flute, etc. performed a beautiful harmony with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony ‘Choral’ 4th Movement ‘Ode to Joy’. ‘Ode to Joy’ is a song that praises the friendship of all humanity and it is conveying a message of consideration and harmony in this challenge faced by the entire world because of COVID-19. YU College of Music Professor of Orchestral Music Baek Yoon-hak said, “I was proud to see the students who are experiencing huge changes in their everyday lives due to social distancing doing their best in their respective fields and supporting each other. Like the message that the students delivered through music, I hope that they will become members of society who harmonize with each other more out of this COVID-19 situation. This video can be seen on the YU homepage (http://www.yu.ac.kr/) or Youtube account (https://youtu.be/oxk0z1d-j_w).
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Request for book rental at the lobby without visiting the library archives to receive books on the spot After applying for book rental online, receive book at the library information desk without waiting in line More face-to-face services... Offering the same education services despite COVID-19 [March 31, 2020] <YU Library Walking-Through book rental service> YU’s (President Sur Gil-soo) Walking-Through book rental service is being received very well by students. The Walking-Through book rental service allows students to rent books at the library lobby without having to physically go to the library archives. Due to the spread of COVID-19, non face-to-face services are being increased and this was implemented from the 23rd by the YU Library to minimize discomforts when students rent books. In this method, students request to rent books in writing at each of the library information desks such as at the YU Central Library and Science Library to rent books. Book rental services are provided to student just like before, while minimizing movement within the library. Furthermore, a thermal imaging camera was installed at the library lobby to restrict entry of people with fevers and footstep stickers were attached to the floor so that users could procure physical distance until people complete the book rental process. Return of books can also be made non-face-to-face using the book return box installed at the entry of the library to minimize human contact in the entire process of checking out and checking in books. YU Library implemented the ‘safe reserved rental’ where students can apply for book rentals at home via the YU internet homepage and pick up the books at the library information desk without having to wait. The service will be expanded to e-book and audio book rental services. The number of e-books and audio books that can be rented will be expanded from five to ten books and the rental period will also be increased from seven days to 14 days. YU currently possesses 40,000 different e-books and when students request for other books in the future, the libraries plan to make purchases with priority on e-books. YU Library Director Bae Byeong-il said, “With the COVID-19 pandemic expected to be prolonged, our library implemented various non-face-to-face services to minimize academic vacancy of students,” while adding, “We will actively look to introduce not only the same educational services for students with online classes, but also to offer better education services.”
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‘COVID-19 Donation Campaign’ hosted by the YU Student Council gathers 7 million KRW Purchased goods such as mouth wash delivered to Daegu Medical Center and YU Medical Center [March 23, 2020] <YU students purchased gathered funds through the Beat COVID-19 Campaign to purchase supplies and deliver to local medical professionals at Daegu Medical Center and YU Medical Center> YU students chipped in to help support local medical professionals fighting with COVID-19 on the front lines. The donations made by students and gathered by the YU Student Council were used to purchase supplies and delivered it to Daegu Medical Center and YU Medical Center on the 19th. The YU Student Council organized a donation campaign to beat COVID-19 from March 5 to March 12. This campaign held online such as on Facebook for eight days resulted in gathering about 7 million KRW. The YU Student Council checked the supplies needed on staff by medical professionals by contacting the Daegu Medical Center External Cooperation Department and the YU Medical Center COVID-19 Situation Room to purchase and deliver the necessary supplies. The supplies include immediately consumable goods for medical professionals such as shampoo, body wash, mouth wash, disinfecting wet tissues, necklace-type pens, beverages, etc. YU’s 53rd Student Council President Park Jong-joo (27, Department of Food Science and Technology, senior) that planned out this donation campaign said, “YU students participated actively in this donation campaign organized by the Student Council and so we were able to deliver their goodwill to local medical professionals.” He added, “After meeting with the medical professionals on the front lines battling COVID-19, I gained belief that we will soon beat this COVID-19 crisis. I hope that everyone in the community works together to beat COVID-19 together.”
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Department of Medical Biotechnology Professor Jin Joon-oh’s team confirms ‘FimH’ protein ‘in-body immunity activation’ functions ‘FimH’ improves functions of immunity and cancer treatment drugs and suppresses growth of cancer Research achievements published in latest issue of the internationally acclaimed academic journal <Nature Communications> [March 13, 2020] YU Department of Medical Biotechnology Professor Jin Joon-oh’s (40) team discovered a new immunity fortifier ‘FimH’ that can improve anti-cancer effects. Professor Jin’s research team verified through research that ‘FimH’, an adherence protein of colon bacillus, helps activate the human immune system and that it can suppress growth of cancer. The results of this study were published in the most recent issue of the internationally acclaimed academic journal <Nature Communications, impact factor (IF) = 11.8> (March 4, 2020). The research team saw colon bacillus attaching to the large intestinal epithelial cell and came up with the idea to separate ‘FimH’ from colon bacillus flagellum and confirmed that this protein had immunity activation functions in immunocytes inside rats and human blood. It was found that FimH activated the immune system in the body through the toll-like receptor 4 (receptor that plays an important role in inherent immunity for microorganisms by detecting microorganism patterns and defending against it) of dendritic cells, while also confirming that when administered by combining with cancer antigens, the growth of melanoma and epithelial cell carcinoma. Furthermore, it was confirmed that it can increase the anti-cancer effects of the recently developed immune checkpoint inhibitors, thereby improving cancer treatment efficiency. Dendritic cells are immuno-cells that exist in the human body and it has been reported that they collect pathogens that invade from the outside and tag protein antigens to induce activation of T lymph nodes, which are a type of white blood cells. Activated T lymph nodes find pathogens containing antigens and selectively destroy them to protect the human body and treat disease. Professor Jin said, “Cancer treatment through immune checkpoint inhibitors have recently received a lot of attention. However, treatment efficiency drops for patients with low immune checkpoint protein manifestation.” He added, “It was found that by mixing FimH, a new immune fortifier that we discovered with the immune checkpoint inhibitor Anti-PD-LI antigen, the anti-cancer effects rose greatly. It is expected to be possible to use as a drug for improving efficiency of immune checkpoint inhibitors.” Dr. Jin’s research team found that in the case of this newly discovered immunity fortifier FimH, immuno-cell activation abilities were excellent, while in-body toxicity was very low. Furthermore, it is a water-soluble material that melts well in water compared to other existing low-toxicity checkpoint receptor stimulation materials, it has the advantage that it can be mixed with various other vaccines for administration. FimH can be used for cancer vaccine development and infectious disease vaccine fortifiers, and it is expected that it will lower prices for vaccines, while increasing efficiency. Meanwhile, Professor Jin has published his research achievements that were international recognized in the immunotherapy and vaccine development fields. In December of 2018, he published a study on development of a new vaccine using influenza antigens in a one of the world’s leading journals, <Biomaterials, impact factor (IF) = 10.27> and published his research on the development of immunotherapy drugs for treating metastatic cancer in <Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer (IF)=8.728>.
