Dong-A University College of Medicine Professors Son Minguk and Park Junyong's Team Selected for Ministry of Health and Welfare's Physician-Scientist Research Support Program

Full-scale Launch of "Synthetic Data-Based Clinical Trial Emulation Platform"
for Rare Rheumatic Diseases

Dong-A University (President Lee Haewoo) announced that the research team led by Professors Son Minguk and Park Junyong from the College of Medicine has been finally selected for the "Global Physician-Scientist Training (Postdoctoral Research Growth Support for Physician-Scientists)" program, which is supervised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

From the left, Son Minguk and Park Junyong, professors at Dong-A University College of Medicine.

With this selection, the research team will receive a total of 550 million KRW in research funding until December 2027. They will conduct research on "the development and establishment of a clinical trial emulation platform based on real-world data and synthetic data for rare rheumatic diseases."

The research team plans to utilize artificial intelligence technology to generate synthetic data and control groups based on limited real-world data (RWD), and to implement target trial emulation (TTE) through this process. They are focusing on overcoming the time and cost limitations of traditional randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and on building a standardized analysis platform that can be easily used by clinicians.

This research is attracting attention because it aims to develop a synthetic data model applicable not only to rheumatic diseases but also to various rare diseases. It is expected to address the ethical challenges associated with non-treatment drug groups, and has high potential to be expanded as effective evidence for post-marketing surveillance (PMS) and improvements in health insurance reimbursement policies.

Professor Son Minguk stated, "This project will not only mark a new milestone in rare and chronic disease research, but also serve as an important opportunity to promote the transition to data-driven precision medicine in domestic clinical research." He added, "We will do our best to lead the paradigm shift in new drug development and to advance research for patient-centered medical services."

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