Professor Lee Jin-hyung of Stanford University: "Dementia and Epilepsy Will Be Overcome in 10 Years"

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"In the next 10 years, brain diseases such as dementia, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, autism, and sleep disorders will all be overcome."

Professor Lee Jin-hyung of Stanford University is being interviewed by reporters at Medical Korea held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 14th.
[Photo by Lee Chun-hee]

Jinhyung Lee, the first Korean woman to become a tenured professor at Stanford University and a world-renowned neuroscientist, made this statement on the 14th at the Medical Korea global healthcare conference held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and organized by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. She delivered a keynote speech titled "The Future of AI and Brain Health: Creating a Brain Digital Twin" and participated in a subsequent interview.

Professor Lee explained, "The fundamental goal of treating brain diseases is to normalize brain function," adding, "Just as you measure your weight to manage it, you need to be able to measure brain function for this purpose." However, she pointed out that current technology is nowhere near this level, likening it to navigating an endless ocean. "The most advanced dementia test today involves doctors asking questions or filling out questionnaires," she said, emphasizing, "The current state of brain disease treatment is like treating a scraped knee or elbow without even knowing where the injury is."

The solution Professor Lee found is the 'digital twin.' This technology precisely replicates objects in the real world within a virtual environment, creating a 'digital twin.' Through this, it is possible to understand how the brain operates and, if there is a disease, to diagnose it and predict the effectiveness of treatments.

Professor Lee Jin-hyung of Stanford University is delivering the keynote speech at Medical Korea held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 14th.
[Photo by Korea Health Industry Development Institute]

In 2013, based on this research, Professor Lee also founded a startup called LVIS, an entrepreneur. The name stands for 'Live Visualization of Brain Circuits.' Headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA, LVIS recently established a branch in Daegu following its Seoul office in Korea.

LVIS aims to be listed on NASDAQ by 2026, and its flagship product is NeuroMatch, a brain circuit analysis platform. This year, it plans to launch an epilepsy diagnosis solution worldwide, including in Korea and the United States. Following this, it intends to introduce diagnostic solutions for Alzheimer's dementia and sleep disorders in 2025, and for Parkinson's disease and autism in 2027. Regarding choosing epilepsy as the first target, Professor Lee explained, "Since every patient's disease is not the same and cannot be viewed as a single disease, we chose it as the first solution," adding, "It is a diverse and important disease that also appears frequently in dementia and autism patients."

Professor Lee said, "Once diagnosis started, we also learned how to treat it," and revealed that they are advancing toward drug development. For dementia, which is primarily treated with medication, they plan to release a treatment drug around 2030. She also mentioned that for the other four major diseases, they are designing various treatments such as drugs and electronic medicine tailored to each disease's characteristics.

Professor Lee expects doctors to respond positively to the NeuroMatch solution. She said, "In the United States, there is only one general neurologist for every 23,259 people, making it very difficult for patients to see a doctor, and Korea has even fewer," adding, "Since doctors are overwhelmed with their workload, NeuroMatch can be a very effective assistant."

As the next step in her research focus, she highlighted artificial intelligence (AI). Professor Lee said, "In the process of figuring out how the brain works, we realized 'AI can do it this way too,' so we are rapidly advancing research." She explained, "We perform all brain activities just by eating three meals a day, but AI servers consume enormous amounts of energy," adding, "This difference is due to different calculation methods, and we are researching ways to create AI that is closer to true intelligence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.