Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine

Mr. Jae Seung Lee, a first-year student in the Doctoral Program of the Graduate School of Animal Husbandry (course in Animal Medical Science), was awarded the Excellent Presentation Award of the 27th Symposium on Environmental Chemistry organized by the Japan Society for Environmental Chemistry and held at the Okinawa Jichikaikan Hall from Tuesday, May 22 to Friday, May 25.

The Japan Society for Environmental Chemistry, which hosted the symposium, was established in 1990 to promote research and knowledge in fields related to the environment/various chemicals and to enhance social contribution to the prevention of environmental pollution and the sound management of environmental chemicals. The Society is made up of about 850 individual members and about 100 groups. The applicants first presented their research in 15-minute oral presentations, and then in poster presentations. The award winner was selected by eminent members of the Society in the field of environmental chemistry.

Mr. Lee’s study was titled, “Assessment of estrogenic and anti-estrogenic potency of bisphenol A replacement in zebrafish.” This study was carried out to evaluate endocrine disrupting activities through the estrogen receptor of these chemical compounds that have been increasingly used as alternatives to bisphenol A (BPA), an ingredient of resin, by using a zebrafish model. The exposure of embryo experiments showed the presence of several BPA-alternative chemicals with even stronger endocrine-disrupting activities than that of BPA. He discovered that the assessment of estrogen receptor binding for chemical compounds using a computational approach would be possible to indicate endocrine-disrupting activity in the model. This achievement provides a new method to estimate the biological effects of chemical compounds in which live animal experimentation is not required, which is expected to be applied in the fields of environmental technology as well as medicine.

Mr. Lee expressed his gratitude for receiving the award, saying, “I am deeply honored to receive this award at my first conference. And I would also like to thank all of the professors who directed me and everyone involved in this study. Through my study, I will contribute to the environmental toxicology field.”