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Professor Choi Sun of the College of Pharmacy Receives the First Academic Award from the KSMC N

  • Date2025.10.10
  • 9180

Professor Choi Sun of the College of Pharmacy received the First Academic Award from the Korean Society of Medicinal Chemistry (KSMC). The award ceremony took place on Thursday, September 11, at the Busan Port International Convention Center during the KSMC’s 1st Annual Meeting.


Professor Choi was selected as the first recipient of the Academic Award in recognition of her outstanding academic achievements and pioneering contributions to elevating Korea’s new drug development research to a world-class level by introducing biophysical approaches utilizing AI and molecular modeling into medicinal chemistry. She received a plaque and a cash prize, which she donated in full to the Ewha College of Pharmacy building fund.


The Korean Society of Medicinal Chemistry (KSMC) was officially established in January 2024 through a founding general assembly, uniting members who had previously been active in separate organizations such as the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Pharmaceutical Society of Korea, the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Korean Chemical Society, and the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the Korean Nonclinical Research Society. It was registered as an incorporated association in June 2025. KSMC plays a central role as Korea’s representative academic society in the field, working closely with the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology (EFMC) and the Division of Medicinal Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS) to jointly lead the Asian Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (AFMC), one of the world’s top three organizations in medicinal chemistry.


Professor Choi has published more than 120 international SCI papers in leading journals such asCell Metabolism,Nature Communications,Journal of the American Chemical Society,Angewandte Chemie, andJournal of Medicinal Chemistry. Her innovative research introduces theoretical biophysical methods using artificial intelligence and molecular modeling into the pharmaceutical sciences, focusing on the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of target proteins, multiscale simulations, and mechanism-based modulator development. She has also achieved significant results through numerous domestic and international patent applications and technology transfers to the pharmaceutical industry. As the Director of the Global AI Drug Discovery Research Center at Ewha Womans University, Professor Choi has led Korea’s “computer-aided drug discovery” field to a world-class level, conducting multidisciplinary research and global collaborations with leading institutions and major corporations such as Microsoft, as well as partners in the United States, China, Japan, and Europe. A member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, Professor Choi also serves as the first and only Associate Editor from Asia forACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, published by the American Chemical Society (ACS). In addition, she has served as Korea’s representative to the Asian Biophysics Association (ABA), as Chair of the Academic Committee of the Asian Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (AFMC), and as a Council member (Korea Representative) of the Asia Pacific Protein Association (APPA), engaging in wide-ranging global academic activities.