Ho Wang Lee (26 October 1928 – 5 July 2022) was a South Korean physician,

epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

, and

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, thei ...

. He was the first person in the history of medicine to be the one chiefly responsible for all 3 of the following steps: (1) discovery of the

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

causing a human disease, (2) development of a method of

diagnosis Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engin ...

for the disease, and (3) development of a

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifie ...

against the disease.

Biography

Lee was born in Sinhung,

South Hamgyong Province South Hamgyong Province (, ''Hamgyŏngnamdo''; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Hamgyong Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Kor ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

on 26 October 1928. He studied medicine at

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

with an M.D. degree in 1954 and was awarded a doctorate at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

in 1959. From 1954 to 1972 he was a professor of microbiology at the Medical College of Seoul National University, as well as dean of the Medical College. From 1972 to 1994 he was the director of the Department of Virology of

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

. From 1994 to his death he was the director of the ASAN Institute for Life Sciences in South Korea. In 1976 Lee and his collaborators succeeded in isolating the virus causing Korean hemorrhagic fever; they gave it the name ''Hantaan virus'' (now called hantavirus or orthohantavirus). The discovery caused a sensation in the international community of medical researchers, because the quest for isolating the virus had been the subject of intense effort since the early 1950s. The research involved in isolating the virus was dangerous, and several of Lee's collaborators became ill due to aerosols produced by chronically infected rodents. In 1989 Lee and collaborators developed a formalin-inactivated suckling mouse Hantaan virus vaccine, which under the name Hantavax™ has been approved for commercial use in South Korea since 1990. In 1990 Tomiyama and Lee published their findings for their method of rapid serodiagnosis of hantavirus infections. Ho Wang Lee became one of the first South Korean scientists to gain international fame while continuing to do research primarily in South Korea.

Awards and honors

* 1981 — Member of the Korean National Academy of Sciences * 1981 — Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Virus Reference and Research * 1987 — President of the International Conference on Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome * 1989 —

Korea Science Award The Korea Science Award is an award presented to South Koreans and Korean scientists working in domestic universities or research positions. It is currently jointly presented by the Ministry of Science and ICT The Ministry of Science and ICT (MS ...

* 1992 —

Ho-Am Prize The ''Ho-Am Prize'' (호암상, 湖岩賞, literally ''lake and rock award'') is a Korean annual award presented to "domestic/abroad ethnic Korean who have made outstanding contributions to the development of science and culture and enhancement o ...

* 1994 —

Prince Mahidol Award The Prince Mahidol Award ( th, รางวัลสมเด็จเจ้าฟ้ามหิดล) is an annual award for outstanding achievements in medicine and public health worldwide. The award is given by the Prince Mahidol Award Found ...

*1998 — International member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

* 2002 — Foreign member of the United States

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

* 2004 — Foreign honorary member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

References

External links

Lee Ho-wang's biography on the National Archives of Korea Web site
(Korean) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ho Wang 1928 births 2022 deaths 20th-century South Korean physicians 21st-century South Korean physicians South Korean epidemiologists South Korean virologists Seoul National University alumni University of Minnesota alumni Seoul National University faculty Korea University faculty People from South Hamgyong Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in Medicine Members of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Korea