'Lab safety is still elusive'

Professor Moon Aree at her lab in Duksung Women’s University in Seoul. She was designated early this week as a grand prize recipient of the 2015 L’Oreal Korea-UNSECO Awards for Women in Life Science. / Courtesy of L’Oreal Korea

Duksung professor receives L’Oreal-UNESCO award

By Lee Hyo-sik and Park Si-soo

Moon Aree, a pharmacology professor at Duksung Women’s University in Seoul, has a “humble” dream which she believes would get the nation’s scientific prowess reinforced significantly ― lab safety.

Lay people may believe the issue to be something of a done deal in a country boasting Asia’s fifth-largest economy and numerous innovative scientific achievements.

Yet she said that is not the case and, furthermore, there are a number of things working against it.

“To ensure the lab safety of scientists is a very basic task that should be done at any cost. Unfortunately, however, this is an issue that has yet to be addressed completely in Korea,” Moon said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. Moon serves as vice president of Duksung.

She said scientists at private universities or institutes are particularly vulnerable to lab accidents due to a lack of a safety budget, along with loose safety guidelines and supervision by authorities.

The safety of female scientists is another big issue, Moon said, adding she is committed to tackling this.

“A large number of female scientists are in the childbearing age of 20s and 30s. And many of them are frequently exposed to toxic chemical substances that can harm their health in the lab,” she noted. “There are many culprits behind such poor lab management. I will try to address them one by one.”

Her lab committed to exploring breast cancer was designated in 2014 as a model facility in terms of safety by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

“The first thing I did to make my lab accident-free was categorizing chemical substances based on the level of toxicity. Then I put extremely hazardous ones in an isolated place where only scientists were allowed access when their physical protection was secured,” she said. “I also drew up a checklist for lab management and pressed lab members to abide by it thoroughly. Tight supervision was also crucial,” she said. “I am also trying to get them self-motivated to behave according to the rule.”

The professor will raise the issue during a meeting of the Korea Federation of Women’s Science and Technology Association, where she serves as a member of its decision-making body.

Meanwhile, the 56-year-old scholar was chosen early this week as this year’s recipient of a grand award given jointly by L’Oreal Korea and UNESCO Korea. She won the top prize of the 2015 L’Oreal Korea-UNSECO Awards for Women in Life Science for her extensive research on breast cancer, said the French cosmetics firm’s Seoul unit.

The two organizations have jointly offered awards and research grants to female scientists in various fields of life science since 2002. A total of 57 professors and researchers have been selected over the past 14 years.

Besides grand prize winners, the two have selected several promising young women scientists, who have shown superb academic performance in their respective areas, for fellowships. Moon herself received a fellowship in 2004 for research on controlling the metastasis of breast cancer cells.

Moon will receive the award and a 20 million won research grant at a ceremony in October, while three other fellowship recipients will get awards and 5 million won in grant money.

Moon received a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Seoul National University in 1983. She went to the U.S state of Iowa and got a doctorate in biochemistry and biophysics from Iowa State University in 1989.