The 11^th ASAN Award ceremony was held in the Grand Hyatt, Seoul on March 21^st. The award went to Chair Prof. Kim Eun-joon of the Department of Biological Sciences at KAIST (Basic Medicine Category), Prof. Bang Young-joo of the Department of Oncology at SNUH (Clinical Medicine Category), Prof. Kim Ho-min at the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering of KAIST, and Prof. Kim Beom-kyung at the Yonsei University College of Medicine (Young Investigator Category). Winners in the basic and clinical medicine categories were awarded with 300 million won while winners in the young investigator category were awarded with 50 million won, respectively.

Chung Mong-joon, the Chairman of the ASAN Foundation and Lee Hong-gu, Lee Sang-joo, Kim Myung-ja, and Han Seung-joo, the directors of the ASAN Foundation as well as around 300 distinguished guests including Chung Nam-sik, the President of the National Academy of Medicine of Korea, Lee Sung-gyu, the Director General of the ASAN Healthcare System, Lee Sang-do, the President of the AMC, and Kim Chong-jai, the Chairman of the ASAN Institute for Life Sciences attended the ceremony, congratulating the winners on their accomplishments.

Chairman Chung Mong-joon said, “Today is the 17^th anniversary of my father’s death. I’m pleased to be here with you thinking about his founding philosophy. Forty years ago, he established the ASAN Foundation with the aim of breaking out of a vicious circle of disease and poverty in 1977 and has built hospitals in the so-called doctorless villages such as Jeong-eup, Bo-seong, Bo-ryeoong, and Young-deok since 1978. After providing local hospitals, he finally established the Asan Medical Center (AMC) for the need of a medical institution to focus on R&D in medicine.” Then, he mentioned every achievement and contribution of the four winners and offered congratulations and encouragement saying, “The winners’ exceptional achievements are proud assets in the field of our medical science. I hope their continuous efforts to engage in research becomes an inspiration to many young investigators.”

Prof. Kim Eun-joon was recognized for his contribution to identifying the cause of various mental illnesses by investigating the mechanism of synapse that connects neurons inside the human brain and its relationship with brain diseases. Prof. Bang Young-joo broke new ground and upgraded the level of domestic medical studies by verifying the treatment effect of targeted chemotherapy drugs and immunotherapy drugs for gastric cancer. Prof. Kim Ho-min revealed the structure and molecular mechanism of core proteins controlling the functions of immunocytes and neurons. Prof. Kim Beom-kyung suggested various methods to increase the survival rates of liver cancer patients by proposing and verifying forecasting models of liver cancer caused by hepatitis B.

The ASAN Award in Medicine was first presented in 2007 to discover and encourage medical scientists at home and abroad who had made exceptional accomplishments in basic medicine and clinical medicine. The ASAN Foundation expanded the ASAN medical development fund set up for the development of Korea’s medical circle to 40 billion won in 2017, supporting the ASAN Award of Medicine and its winners’ research activities.

At the ceremony of the 11^th ASAN Award in Medicine, Chung Mong-joon (middle) and Kim Beom-kyung, Prof. Bang Young-joo, Chair Prof. Kim Eun-joon, and Prof. Kim Ho-min are taking a photo together.