Gertrude "Trudy"Belle Elion was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovative methods of rational drug design for the development of new drugs. This new method focused on understanding the target of the drug rather than simply using trial-and-error. Her work led to the creation of the anti-retroviral drug AZT, which was the first drug widely used against AIDS. Her well known works also include the development of the first immunosuppressive drug, azathioprine, used to fight rejection in organ transplants, and the first successful antiviral drug, acyclovir (ACV), used in the treatment of herpes infection.
Dennis Keith Rodman is an American former professional basketball player. Renowned for his defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history". Nicknamed "the Worm", he played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Rodman played at the small forward position in his early years before becoming a power forward.
Education in North Korea is universal and state-funded schooling by the government. As of 2021, UNESCO Institute for Statistics does not report any data for North Korea's literacy rates. Children in the DPRK go through one year of kindergarten, five years of primary education, and six years of secondary education, after which it is possible to attend university or technical college.
Matt Cooper is an Irish journalist, author and broadcaster who presents news review show The Last Word on Today FM.
Historically, North Korea's participation in international sporting events has been hindered by the relations with South Korea. Until the 1990s, North Korea used to host up to 14 international events every year, albeit in small scale. Since the early 1990s, the amount was reduced to just one, the Paektusan Prize International Figure Skating Festival. More recently, since the 2000s, North Korea both participates in and hosts more international competitions.
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) is North Korea's first privately funded university. It is founded, operated, and partly funded by associations and people outside the country. PUST was jointly planned and constructed by forces from both North and South Korea, along with contributions from groups and individuals from other nations, in particular China and the United States. The initiative is largely funded by Evangelical Christian movements. Originally scheduled for launch in 2003, the project was delayed for several years and began operations in October 2010.
Kim Chin Kyung born 1935 in Keijo (Seoul), Japanese Korea is a professor of economics and a builder of international institutes of higher learning. He holds a United States passport, but also an honorary permanent Chinese citizenship. He was held as a political prisoner of Kim Jong Il in 1998.
Kang San-eh is a South Korean folk rock singer-songwriter and actor. He is sometimes referred to as the "Korean Bob Dylan."
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is an American non-profit medical research organization that provides funding for biomedical research, STEM education, and areas of career development for scientists. Since 1970, it has been headquartered in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.
University of Sciences is a university located inside the region of the National Academy of Science in Pyongyang, North Korea. The university was previously called as "Institute of Natural Science". UOS is geographically located in Pyongsong, South Pyong'an Province, North Korea. However, North Korean government appointed the area of science district to belong to Pyongyang for giving some privileges of Pyongyang citizens to scientists of NAS and students of UOS. As Kim Il Sung, a former leader of North Korea, emphasized the significance of education for gifted and talented students, UOS originally started as a branch of Kim Il Sung University on January 17, 1967. It was separated from Kim Il Sung University in 1985. In North Korea, this university is known as "Sujae Daehark ". In South Korean mass media, this university is called "KAIST of North Korea".
Ri Sol-ju is the current First Lady of North Korea as the wife of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea national basketball team represents the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in international basketball and is controlled by the Amateur Basketball Association of DPR of Korea, the governing body for basketball in North Korea.
Kenneth Bae is a South Korean-born American Evangelical Christian missionary. Convicted by North Korea on charges of planning to overthrow the government, he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in April 2013. Bae was released on November 8, 2014, along with fellow American Matthew Todd Miller.
Ryan Duffy is a journalist and correspondent best known for his work with Vice Media, including accompanying Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters on a visit to North Korea in 2013. Duffy began his career at Vice as an intern while studying journalism at New York University. In 2012, Duffy appeared on Forbes' 30 under 30 list. In 2015, he started a series of short documentary reports with The Huffington Post titled Now What with Ryan Duffy.
Lalita Ramakrishnan is an Indian-born American microbiologist who is known for her contributions to the understanding of the biological mechanism of tuberculosis. As of 2019 she serves as a professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Cambridge, where she is also a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and a practicing physician. Her research is conducted at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, where she serves as the Head of the Molecular Immunity Unit of the Department of Medicine embedded at the MRC LMB. Working with Stanley Falkow at Stanford, she developed the strategy of using Mycobacterium marinum infection as a model for tuberculosis. Her work has appeared in a number of journals, including Science, Nature, and Cell. In 2018 and 2019 Ramakrishnan coauthored two influential papers in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) arguing that the widely accepted estimates of the prevalence of latent tuberculosis—estimates used as a basis for allocation of research funds—are far too high. She is married to Mark Troll, a physical chemist.
Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang is a 2015 documentary film produced and directed by Colin Offland, written by Matthew Baker, and narrated by Matt Cooper. The film follows retired professional basketball player Dennis Rodman on his mission to host a basketball game between former NBA stars and the North Korean team in Pyongyang.
Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, is a Korean-American professor who was detained in North Korea for 382 days. On May 9, 2018, it was reported that Kim was released from custody.
Alexander Marson is an American biologist and infectious disease doctor who specializes in genetics, human immunology, and genome engineering. He is the Director of the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, and a tenured Professor with a dual appointment in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Michael Peter Todd Spavor is a Canadian consultant who has worked extensively in North Korea. He is the director and founding member of Paektu Cultural Exchange, a NGO that facilitates sports, cultural, tourism and business exchanges involving North Korea.
Jason Mojica is an American journalist, film producer, and musician. He is the co-founder and treasurer of IXNAY PAC, a super PAC devoted to "getting Donald Trump and his cronies out of office." Previously, he was the founding editor-in-chief of VICE News, and in 2013 became one of the first Americans to meet Kim Jong Un when he led the team that brought Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters to North Korea. In November 2017, Vice Media fired Mojica after allegations made by several women that he had sexually harassed them surfaced.
