University of Seoul student wins international awards for AI toxicology research

Kim Dong-hyun, a doctoral integrated master's and Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Engineering at the University of Seoul, has achieved international recognition by winning both the Toxicology-Elsevier Best Poster Award and an EPAA Travel Grant at the ESTIV 2026 international conference held in Maastricht, Netherlands. The European Society of Toxicology In Vitro (ESTIV) is a leading European academic organization focused on advancing and regulating New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in in vitro toxicology and computational toxicology.

The ESTIV 2024 conference serves as a major international forum for discussing the latest research in NAMs, including human cell models, organoids, omics, and artificial intelligence, as well as their regulatory applications. Kim presented his research on 'Selection of endocrine-disrupting candidate substances in household chemicals using AOP-based explainable toxicity prediction models.'

Kim's research introduced an 'AOP-based explainable AI' approach. This method integrates Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) with AI models to interpret the mechanisms of chemical toxicity. The findings enhance the scientific interpretability and regulatory applicability of toxicity predictions, addressing limitations of traditional black-box AI models. The research garnered significant attention from the academic community for its innovative methodology.

The Toxicology-Elsevier Best Poster Award is presented by the international toxicology journal Toxicology and the publisher Elsevier to young researchers for outstanding presentations at the ESTIV conference. The EPAA Travel Grant, provided by the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA), supports the participation of promising students and early-career researchers in international conferences, fostering advancements in animal alternative testing methods and the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Kim was selected for the highest level of grant, a full grant of 1,000 euros.

This achievement underscores the international competitiveness of South Korean research in the convergence of AI, big data, and toxicology, and highlights the practical policy implications of such advancements. Kim Dong-hyun is also a recipient of the 2024 Presidential Science Scholarship and is currently pursuing a dual doctoral degree program between the University of Seoul and Université Paris Cité in France, focusing on computational toxicology and next-generation chemical risk assessment.

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AOP-based explainable AI approach combining toxicity expression pathways (AOP) with artificial intelligence models to interpret the process of chemical toxicity occurrence.