Division of Chemical Engineering graduate students Jae-woong Lee and Woo-il Choi (Ph.D. candidates; advisor Min Ji-ho) recently received the Outstanding Paper Presentation Award at the 3rd International Symposium on Pharmacology and Toxicology held in Bangkok, Thailand.

At the symposium, graduate student Jae-woong Lee presented research titled 'Identification of Novel Paraben-Binding Peptides Using Phage Display.' The study was recognized for its excellence for selecting peptide sequences that bind specifically to paraben compounds, which are commonly used as preservatives in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

In a social climate where paraben-free consumer products are increasing, these results, which developed a biological material capable of selectively removing parabens, were published in the internationally renowned environmental journal Environmental Pollution.

Graduate student Woo-il Choi also presented a paper entitled 'Bioengineered Yeast Vacuoles as Drug Delivery Carrier with Induced Proinflammatory Response after Daunorubicin Delivery.' The paper addresses the potential of vacuole material isolated from yeast as a drug delivery carrier and the subsequent activity of vacuoles that induce proinflammatory responses. Part of this research was recently published in the internationally renowned journal Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine and Biotechnology.

They were selected as award recipients based on evaluations at the presentation, which examined criteria such as the significance of the research, theoretical contribution, originality, and appropriateness of methodology.

The researchers plan to expand this research by developing peptide screening technologies for removing not only parabens but also various harmful substances and by pursuing studies on applying yeast-derived vacuoles to nanomedicine.