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CDC Researcher Lee, Dong Han won "International Young Investigator Award" from IDSA

-CDC AIDS/TB Control Division, TB Elimination T/F Manager; Lee, Dong Han -

CDC (Director Jeon, Byung Yul) informed that Lee, Dong Han, AIDS/TB Division, TB Elimination T/F Manager, (a health researcher, aged 40) won an International Young Investigator Award from Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

International Young Investigator Awards are presented by IDSA, which holds a world-renowned authority and status in infectious diseases and it is such an honor for experts in infectious diseases to win this award.

This holds great significance especially because Lee has been awarded for a study on the new strain of influenza (H1N1) which was wide-spread in 2009, thrusting the entire nation into terror and anxiety.

Lee led efforts in protecting the public from the pandemic influenza as he was working at the division of public health crisis response back in 2009.

Lee was able to make this recognizable achievement as he had committed himself to seeking resolution policies by conducting this study, leveraging his medical expertise.

Lee's study on the "Estimation of the Reproduction Number of Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 from Antiviral Agent Consumption,"

Using data on the national antiviral agent consumption by date, analyzed the pattern of the outbreak of the new influenza and estimated the reproduction number*.

* Reproduction number: the average number of persons directly infected by an infected patient during the communicable period (when the number is larger than 1, an infection disease spreads. When smaller than 1, its prevalence goes down)

Lee said, “While the existing studies done in other countries estimated the reproduction number based on thousands of confirmed patients at an early stage of the outbreak of this new strain of influenza, this study estimated the reproduction number when the spread of the disease was at its peak (The highest consumption volume was 130 thousand doses as of 30 Oct. 2009), using national data on the antiviral agent consumption."

He also added, “this study is expected to serve as an important data source, providing a basis for national policies when a highly contagious disease like H1N1 breaks out in a large scale."

Lee himself attended the 49th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America to receive his award, which was held between 20 Oct. and 24 in Boston.

<For more info>

CDC AIDS/TB Team

Senior Researcher Lee, Yoon Jae ☎ 02-6929-3271