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- WriterThe NAS
- Registration2022-08-29
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Britain's Daily Telegraph published an obituary of the late Dr. Ho Wang Lee (member of the Natural Sciences Division, Subdivision Ⅳ & the 28th and 29th President, the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Korea) on July 14th, 2022. The Daily Telegraph (or The Telegraph), founded in London in 1855, is one of the UK’s leading newspapers which covers its domestic news and international news of the world.
The obituary hailed Dr. Lee as 'Korean Pasteur' who contributed to the discovery of 'Hantaan virus' and the creation of its vaccine. This virus caused life-threatening haemorrhagic fever for thousands of Korean and United Nations troops during the Korean War. In particular, it noted that he and his team of researchers risked their lives in the demilitarized zone of the Korean peninsula to discover the cause of this virus. The mortality rate caused by it was around 10%, which put their lives to a high risk. The discovery of 'Hantaan virus' was a remarkable medical achievement as it eluded virologists across the United States who had been engaged in intensive research on the subject for 20 years. In 2021 the analytics company Clarivate included Dr. Lee on a list of researchers worthy of Nobel class.
Dr. Ho Wang Lee served as an honorary member of the Japan Academy and an international member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. This obituary in the Daily Telegraph is also attached to the membership directory section of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA website.
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Related Links:
1) The Daily Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/07/14/ho-wang-lee-virologist-who-isolated-pathogen-behind-deadly-form/
2) The National Academy of Sciences of the USA: http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20002217.html