On behalf of the Organizing Committee of the Korean Human Proteome Organization (KHUPO), I would like to cordially welcome all the speakers and participants from the different part of the world in the Annual International Conference of KHUPO, which will be held on May 29-31, 2008 at the most beautiful Jeju Island in Korea.

This will mark the 8th Annual Meeting of KHUPO and focus on the theme, "Proteomics for Future Life Science and Medicine". I am very much confident that this meeting will be a useful place for disseminating information and knowledge pertaining to the human proteome projects, which are now well moving under the leadership of HUPO and its initiatives. For this meeting, the leaders of HUPO and distinguished scientists were invited and their presentations will provide an excellent opportunity to introduce the current status of human proteome research. This meeting will also help us jump one more step towards the development of proteomics core technology and cooperation among the scientists in this field.

As proteomics is staged at rapid growth phase with respect to technology, training and infrastructure in the world, Korean researchers will continue working towards our ultimate goals to map and elucidate all human proteome by participating "The Human Proteome Project", which will provide a comprehensive vision of the human proteome by characterizing representative proteins for all genes. It will serve as the foundation for the functional characterization of all proteins and their variants relevant to human biology and disease.

 Finally, KHUPO wishes to be a key part of world proteome societies and will continue to function in its unique role under the auspices of HUPO. I hope that 8th Annual Meetings of KHUPO serves as a major communication bridge for the high-quality research of proteome scientists, connecting between Korea and the rest of the world.

With best wishes,