The 10th Asan Award in Medicine Presented to Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Research and CRISPR

The photo shows Chairman of Asan Foundation Chung Mong-joon taking a photo with winners. From left, Director of Center for Genome Engineering Kim Jin-soo, Professor Han Duck-jong, Chairman Chung Mong-joon, Professor Choi Jung-kyoon, and Professor Ahn Jung-min.

The 10^th Asan Award in Medicine ceremony was held March 21 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. The award was launched by the Asan Foundation in 2007 to honor medical scientists who have made outstanding achievements in basic and clinical medicine for the enhancement of human health. This year’s winners are:

• Basic Medicine - Director of Center for Genome Engineering Kim Jin-soo at the Institute for Basic Science suggested a way to treat intractable genetic disorders or cancers while playing a global role in CRISPR
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• Clinical Medicine - Professor Han Duck-jong of the department of cardiovascular surgery at AMC opened up a new way of treatment to patients with end-stage renal failure and diabetic complications by succeeding in the first living-donor pancreas transplantation in Korea
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• Young Investigator - Professor Choi Jung-kyoon of the department of bio and brain engineering at KAIST identified the causative agents of diseases including cancers through DNA analysis based on big data and artificial intelligence (AI)
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• Young Investigator - Professor Ahn Jung-min of the department of internal medicine at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine suggested the new guidelines for treatment of heart patients with a minimally-invasive approach that inserts stent through the blood vessel

Winners received a total of 700 million won including 300 million won for a winner in basic-clinical medicine category while 50 million won for each winner in young investigator category.

The ceremony was attended by Asan Foundation’s directors including Lee Hong-gu, Lee Sang-joo, Kim Myung-ja, and Han Seung-joo. In addition, around 250 distinguished guests including President of Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) Lee Myung-chul, Director General of Asan Healthcare System Lee Sung-gyu, President of AMC Lee Sang-do, and Chairman of Asan Institute for Life Sciences Kim Chong-jai helped commemorate the winners’ achievements.

Chairman of Asan Foundation Chung Mong-joon said, “Today is the 16^th anniversary of my father’s death. The Asan Foundation my father established with the aim of breaking out of a vicious circle of poverty and disease marked its 40^th anniversary. I’m so glad that we hold the ceremony of the Asan Award in Medicine on a special day and reflect on my father’s cherished plan.” And he quoted the phrase that Chung Ju-yung stressed during the morning assembly of AMC in 1989: “Medicine is indeed an infinite field. We have endless things to do with it. I believe that medicine is the world where noble spirits for humans can be embodied.” Chairman Chung Mong-joon added an encouraging comment: “The achievements made by the winners are proud assets of medical science. Investigators’ dedication and commitment to research must be a guiding light to a lot of young students.”

Asan Award in Medicine was launched by the Asan Foundation in 2007 to encourage medical scientists who have made outstanding achievements in basic and clinical medicine in order to enhance human health.

After the awarding ceremony, distinguished guests take a photo with winners. From left on the front row, Professor Choi Jung-kyoon and Professors Kim Jin-soo, Han Duck-jong, and Ahn Jung-min. From left on the rear row, Asan Foundation’s director Choi Jae-sung, Chairman of Asan Award in Medicine’s screening committee Park Seung-jung; Asan Foundation directors Kim Yoo-hu, Lee Bong-joo, and Kim Myung-ja; Chairman Chung Mong-joon, Asan Foundation directors Lee Hong-gu and Lee Sang-joo, President of KAST Lee Myung-chul; Asan Foundation directors Kim Tae-hyun, Han Seung-joo, Jung Jin-gyu; and Director General of Asan Healthcare System Lee Sung-gyu.