By Kwak Yeon-soo
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| Kim Jue-won, a researcher at AmorePacific, poses with the 2019 Young Scientist Award at the Japan Society for Biomedical Gerontology in Japan, June 8. / Courtesy of AmorePacific |
With the feat, Kim became the third foreign scientist and first company representative to receive the prestigious award.
Known as the oldest and biggest academic symposium for biomedical and cosmetic scientists in Asia, JSBMG has been granting awards to young scientists since 2002.
Judges praised Kim's paper and presentation at the Poster Session for revealing the role of FoxO3a, one of a few genes associated with human longevity, in the correlation of anti-aging and skin whitening, according to the nation's top cosmetics company.
"Kim suggested a new way of associating anti-aging and the whitening mechanism of vitamin C and other antioxidants. As a result, he unveiled a biological chain of antioxidants, anti-aging and whitening," an AmorePacific official said.
"His research will help in developing ingredients for cosmetics in the future. It has already contributed greatly to the nation's cosmetics industry."
The Journal of Investigative Dermatology published Kim's study on FoxO3a being an anti-melanogenic factor that mediates antioxidant-induced depigmentation in 2014.
"I'd like to share this happiness with researchers in our team who have worked with me for a long time," Kim said. "I will continue to do my best and will contribute to AmorePacific's innovations."
AmorePacific will apply Kim's research on Seletinoid G, which can repair altered connective tissue in aged human skin, to the company's products such as IOPE and ginseng berry, which can treat skin pigmentation, in Sulwhasoo.
Kim earned a bachelor's degree at Gunma University and completed a doctorate degree in Life Science at Tokyo University in Japan.
He joined AmorePacific in 2011 and since then worked in fields of both cosmetics and health supplement food categories. Throughout his career, Kim has done extensive research on anti-aging, whitening, beauty food, and calorie restriction.
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