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HOAM THE HO-AM FOUNDATION

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Recognition for the Ennoblement of the Human Sprit in Academics, The Arts, and Human Welfare

2001 Laureates

Andrew Ho Kang
  • Medicine
  • Andrew Ho Kang
    Goodman Professor and Director, University of Tennessee
  • Education & Work Experience
    1934 Born in Seoul, Korea 1957 B.S., Wofford College, S.C 1962 M.D., Harvard Medical School, MA 1967 ~ 1972 Assistant Professor, Massachusetts General Hospital, MA 1972 ~ 1982 Professor and Chief, Rheumatology Section, University of Tennessee, TN 1982 ~ 1992 Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tennessee, TN 1989 ~ Goodman Professor, University of Tennessee, TN. 2001 ~ Director, Center of Excellence, Diseases of Connective Tissue, University of Tennessee, TN

Achievements

Over the past 35 years, Dr. Andrew H. Kang has been recognized as a world-renowned scientist for directing a multidisciplinary group of investigators who have made several seminal contributions to the biology of connective tissue. These include, 1) determination of the complete amino acid sequences of types I and III collagens and major portions of type II collagen, 2) characterization of several metalloproteinases (MMP) involved in connective tissue degradation as well as delineating the genes encoding new important metalloproteinase expressed by neutrophils (MMP-8), and 3) isolation and characterization of a unique family of platelet receptors for collagen and cloning the genes encoding these receptor proteins.

Above all, his most significant contribution to the study of rheumatic diseases is the development of the type II collagen arthritis model in the rodent in 1978. His development of the type II collagen-induced arthritis model provided the first proof that a tissue-specific autoimmune response could cause an autoimmune arthritis. Subsequent to these findings, rheumatoid arthritis has become widely accepted as a tissue-specific autoimmune disease. These detailed studies of the animal model have led to the development by Dr. Kang and his colleagues of several different immunotherapies for experimental autoimmune arthritis. One of these experimental therapies, the induction of oral tolerance, is currently being studied in human rheumatoid arthritis, with the support of the NIH under the guidance of Dr. Kang. These research findings have been published in highly respected journals such as the Journal of Immunology, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Science and Arthritis and Rheumatism. In recognition of his outstanding research accomplishments and contributions to numerous book chapters and review papers for textbooks and monographs on immunology and rheumatology, Dr. Kang has been elected to prestigious societies including the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

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