– Seoul National University College of Medicine Professor, Jung Pyo Lee

Q1. What are the CKD patients’ first impressions about the diseases, and what are their thoughts on the limited available treatment options? 

A: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be deeply distressing from the moment of diagnosis. It is defined medically as irreversible. The most reassuring thing I can often tell patients is that “you haven’t gotten worse since your last visit.” I can’t say that their condition has improved because the nature of the disease doesn’t permit such optimism. Patients on dialysis have to undergo this treatment every other day, and it is also challenging and depressing environment. I often ask them when they feel happy, and most of them answer casual things such as enjoying delicious food and spending time with families. However, patients on dialysis face restrictions. For example, consuming foods high in sugar, salt, or potassium can complicate their dialysis sessions. Excessive potassium intake can even be fatal. A kidney transplantation can be a solution for the patients, however not everyone can receive it when they want to. They often have to wait nearly a decade, living with the uncertainty of their future. This prolonged wait often leads to pervasive feelings of depression.

Q2. I understand that you personally see and treat many patients with kidney diseases and perform kidney transplant surgeries, often with foreign patients. Could you share us about a memorable patient’s stories?

A: Treating transplant patients is like a journey into the lives of the patients. Organ transplantation involves complex relationships between donors and recipients, even their family backgrounds. I recall a patient from Nepal who was deeply affected by a major earthquake. The patient’s children were all studying in Korea. Many family members of the patient in Nepal died during the earthquake and many patients also died in a dialysis center. The patient was going through a very tough situation at that time, and her children decided to bring her to Korea for treatment and transplantation.Treating foreign patients can be challenging due to the need for agreements between countries. However, when all the necessary processes were completed, the daughter donated her kidney to her mother, and the transplantation was successful. It was memorable that the patient received the successful treatments regardless of all the challenges including language barriers, and even document works.

Q3. I believe that you have seen many patient cases, and there must have been good cases of course, and bad cases on the other hand. When do you feel the most satisfied as a doctor?

A: I am always on the same page with patients. I, as a doctor, also go through many emotional phases when seeing patients. As a nephrologist, I’m involved in their lives for long durations, sometimes up to a decade, understanding their personal journeys and needs.  This always encourages me to take care of them with best available treatments. Many CKD patients grapple with infertility. However, after transplantation, about 1-2 years later, they can prepare for pregnancy again. There’s a child that one of my patients gave a birth after transplantation surgery. I often see the kid with the patient, and I personally feel very touched when patients that I see are having satisfactory life after having transplantations. 

Q4. There are other efforts that you are putting for your patients, can you please explain some of them?

A: From a medical perspective, I’m trying to delay the progression of CKD. Some patients don’t know much about their condition, especially if they are elderly. Delaying progression to dialysis or end-stage renal disease is a significant achievement, considering that the medical condition is not reversible. Even in people with normal kidney function, it deteriorates by about 1% per year. CKD patients deteriorate at a rate of 2-4% per year. Managing proteinuria, blood pressure, and diabetes can delay the time until dialysis, allowing more time for travel and enjoying life. Moreover, for patients who receive dialysis or transplantation, preparation is crucial. If they receive dialysis unprepared, there can be many side effects, including malnutrition and difficulty walking. I make efforts to prepare patients to minimize such situations. I also perform various research both clinical and basic researches. In basic research, since CKD is considered irreversible, I am trying to find ways to make it reversible. The main mechanism of CKD is fibrosis, so we are looking various approaches to prevent renal fibrosis. 

Q5. I am aware that you are working on a research project with ROKIT HEALTHCARE. Can you briefly introduce the content of this project?

A: ROKIT HEALTHCARE has been working on organ regeneration projects for a long time, and there were chances where I met Dr. Jina Ryu and provided advice on ROKIT’s kidney regeneration projects.

ROKIT HEALTHCARE was invited to fall meeting of the Korean Society for Biomaterials (KSBM) held at Jeju Shinhwa World on September 21-22 to deliver a presentation during the Advanced 3D Bioprinting Technology session. The presentation was titled “From Blueprint to Bioprint: Regenerative Medicine with 3D Bioprinting and Decellularization Technologies.”

During the session, Dr. Ryu showcased real-world applications of 3D bioprinting technology in the field of medicine, going beyond the research stage. The focus was particularly on chronic diseases for which current treatment methods are often inadequate. Researchers in attendance expressed astonishment at the potential of 3D bioprinters to treat patients, with one remarking, “It’s amazing that 3D bioprinters can be used to treat patients like this. We look forward to seeing more positive research outcomes.”

Dr. Ryu, who delivered the presentation, emphasized, “Many researchers are working diligently to develop 3D bioprinting technology. All these efforts are now being applied in regenerative medicine, transitioning from blueprint to reality.”

The Korean Society for Biomaterials, founded in 1996, is a large society with a membership of over 4,173 individuals. Furthermore, its official journal, Biomaterials Research, is indexed in SCIE with an impact factor of 11.3 in 2023. In 2024, the society is set to host the 12th World Biomaterials Congress (WBC 2024) in Daegu, Korea.

ROKIT Healthcare won the grand prize at the “GSMA Asia-Pacific Digital Transformation Summit Forum”. ROKIT Healthcare, which is attracting attention as a organ regeneration platform, has received great attention from judges and participants by introducing a personalized skin regeneration platform using 3D printing. ROKIT Healthcare’s platform uses tissues extracted from the patient’s body as bioink materials to create regenerative skin tissues that can be used directly in the operating room. In particular, it is evaluated as a new treatment to regenerate necrotic foot skin tissue in diabetics.16 domestic and foreign innovative technology startups from six countries, including Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and Sweden, participated in the event on September 8 to hold a showcase session for technology companies.The “GSMA Asia-Pacific Digital Transformation Summit Forum” was jointly held in Seoul on September 8 by the Global Digital Innovation Network and the Global Association of Mobile Communications Operators (GSMA). At the center of the event was a showcase session for technology companies involving 16 domestic and foreign innovative technology startups from six countries, including Korea, Japan, Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Sweden, in four areas: “Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning,” “Intelligent City,” “Life Technology,” and “ESG, Sustainability.”ROKIT Healthcare won the grand prize. ROKIT Healthcare, which is attracting attention as a long-term regeneration platform, has received great attention from judges and participants by introducing a personalized skin regeneration platform using 3D printing. ROKIT Healthcare’s platform uses tissues extracted from the patient’s body as bioink materials to create regenerative skin tissues that can be used directly in the operating room. In particular, it is evaluated as a new treatment to regenerate necrotic foot skin tissue in diabetics.In addition, health-on-cloud, which introduced a cloud-based medical gap solution in the ITNJ ‘life technology’ field, which introduced artificial intelligence-based smart factory solutions, Dwelling, which exhibited IoT-based smart stations safe from fine dust and smoke, and ESG, sustainability were selected.