Chonnam National University Hospital, Chonnam National University, and MatilloAI Launch Joint Research on Digital Medicine for Kidney Disease

Research on Predicting Complications and Prognosis Using Urinary Biomarkers

The Department of Nephrology at Chonnam National University Hospital, the College of Engineering at Chonnam National University, and the faculty startup MatilloAI have launched a joint research project on digital medicine for kidney disease based on healthcare big data. On May 15, they announced that they had published their research results—using urinary biomarkers to predict complications and prognosis—in an international academic journal.

The Department of Nephrology at Chonnam National University Hospital (Professor Seo Sangheon and Professor Kim Suwan), the College of Engineering at Chonnam National University (Researcher Lee Dohyun and Professor Yoo Sunyong), and the faculty startup MatilloAI Co., Ltd. will cooperate on a full-scale industry-academia-hospital collaborative research project in the field of digital medicine for kidney disease utilizing healthcare big data.

As their first achievement, the study titled “Risk Factor and Prognosis Analysis Based on Urinary Biomarkers Related to Kidney Disease,” co-first-authored by Professor Seo Sangheon and Researcher Lee Dohyun and co-corresponded by Professor Kim Suwan and Professor Yoo Sunyong, has been published in the SCI-indexed international journal JMIR Public Health and Surveillance.

This research is significant in that it elucidated the key mechanisms between urinary biomarkers and the risk of complications associated with kidney disease through large-scale national data analysis. The research team systematically analyzed the impact of urinary indicators on the development of anemia, presenting new possibilities for preventing complications and predicting prognosis in kidney disease patients. Beyond merely clarifying mechanisms, these studies are expected to serve as important milestones in the digital transformation of kidney disease management in the future.

In particular, the team is continuing to study risk factors and prognostic biomarkers related to kidney disease by incrementally utilizing healthcare big data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Going forward, the team plans to integrate even larger and more sophisticated healthcare big data, such as from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), to build a kidney disease data research ecosystem that spans from population-level epidemiological analysis to personalized prognosis prediction for individual patients.

Professor Yoo Sunyong stated, “This study marks the first step for the Department of Nephrology at Chonnam National University Hospital, the College of Engineering, and MatilloAI Co., Ltd. in developing digital medicine related to kidney disease using healthcare big data.” He added, “In connection with the national research project ‘Leading Research Center for Kidney Disease Control and Dialysis Device Advancement’ (centered by Professor Kim Suwan), which is led by Chonnam National University, we plan to develop digital biomarkers specialized for kidney disease patients and further advance to AI-based personalized digital medicine platforms.”

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