Award in Basic Medicine awarded to Professor Karl Deisseroth from Stanford University and Award in Clinical Medicine awarded to Professor Myung-Ju Ahn from Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine Pioneering Optogenetics to Advance Neuroscience · Breakthrough Research in Innovative Lung Cancer Treatments Award for Young Medical Scientists presented to Professor YongKeun Park from KAIST and Professor Hongyoon Choi from Seoul National University Hospital Award Ceremony to Be Held on March 18 (Tuesday) at the Westin Josun Seoul ▲ The 18th Asan Award in Medicine recipients. (From left) Professor Karl Deisseroth in Basic Medicine, Professor Myung-Ju Ahn in Clinical Medicine, Professor YongKeun Park and Professor Hongyoon Choi in Young Medical Scientists (Provided by the Asan Foundation) The Asan Foundation (Chairman Chung Mong-Joon) has announced the recipients of the 18th Asan Award in Medicine. In the Basic Medicine category, the award will be presented to Professor Karl Deisseroth, a professor of bioengineering, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in the United States (age 53). In the Clinical Medicine category, the recipient is Professor Myung-Ju Ahn, a professor of hematology and oncology at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine (age 63). In the Young Medical Scientists category, the awards will be presented to Professor YongKeun Park, a professor of physics at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (age 44), and Professor Hongyoon Choi, a professor of nuclear medicine at Seoul National University Hospital (age 38). The award ceremony for the 18th Asan Award in Medicince will be held on March 18 (Tuesday) at the Westin Josun Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The prize includes $250,000 for Professor Karl Deisseroth in the Basic Medicine category, 300 million KRW for Professor Myung-Ju Ahn in the Clinical Medicine category, and 50 million KRW each for Professors YongKeun Park and Hongyoon Choi in the Young Medical Scientists category, totaling 770 million KRW for four recipients. Professor Karl Deisseroth, the recipient in the Basic Medicine category, is recognized for his pioneering work in optogenetics, a genetic technique that uses light-responsive proteins to control cells in living tissues. He has made significant contributions to understanding the cellular basis of sensation, cognition, and action, and clarifying the mechanisms linking the brain and behavior. Professor Karl Deisseroth succeeded in implanting a blue light-sensitive protein, channelrhodopsin, found in green algae, into mouse neurons and controlling their behavior with light, a result he published in the international journal ‘Nature Neuroscience’ in 2005. In 2007, he demonstrated the ability to activate or inhibit neurons using light, and in 2010, developed a method for delivering continuous light to the cerebral cortex, allowing real-time manipulation of brain activity. In 2011, he identified that the hypothalamus regulates critical neural circuits associated with survival instincts, and in 2019, analyzed how neural circuits involved in memory formation and retrieval play a crucial role in inducing physiological responses. Over the past 20 years, Professor Karl Deisseroth has expanded the scope of optogenetics, uncovering the roles of neural cells and signaling pathways. His work has been cited in more than 10,000 research studies worldwide, contributing to a significant transformation in life sciences research. Professor Karl Deisseroth has also contributed to the development of medical science in Korea by inviting Korean medical scientists to his laboratory at Stanford University, sharing the techniques of optogenetics, and by playing a leading role in various research projects. For example, Professor Sung-Yon Kim of the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University, during his doctoral studies in neuroscience at Stanford University, discovered the brain mechanisms regulating anxiety in collaboration with Professor Karl Deisseroth, publishing their findings in ‘Nature’ in 2013. The recipient in the Clinical Medicine category, Professor Myung-Ju Ahn, a professor in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, is a world-renowned expert in lung cancer and head and neck cancer. She has played a leading role in conducting clinical trials on targeted therapies and cancer immunotherapies to improve cancer treatment outcomes, as well as extensive translational research, including the development of biomarkers for predicting treatment responses, significantly contributing to the advancement of oncology. Professor Myung-Ju Ahn published the clinical research findings on the new immune treatment ‘Talatamab’ for small-cell lung cancer, a type of cancer known for its rapid progression and low survival rates, in ‘The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)’ in 2023 as the lead author. This research was pivotal in the approval of Talatamab by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She has also participated in numerous clinical trials on the targeted therapy ‘osimertinib’ for non-small-cell lung cancer with mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which regulates cell growth and differentiation. Notably, through a domestic investigator-led study, she was the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of osimertinib in patients with uncommon EGFR mutations. Based on this work, the use of osimertinib for treating non-small-cell lung cancer with these uncommon EGFR mutations was included in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Professor Myung-Ju Ahn, currently serving as the president of the Korean Association for Lung Cancer, is an active editorial board member of the ‘Journal of Thoracic Oncology,’ the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Last year, she became the first Korean to receive the ‘Women for Oncology Award’ at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). She continues to foster global research collaboration through active participation in international conferences, such as those organized by the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the European Cancer Congress, and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. The Young Medical Scientists category, awarded to medical scientists under the age of 45, has been presented to Professor YongKeun Park, a professor of physics at KAIST, and Professor Hongyoon Choi, a professor of nuclear medicine at Seoul National University Hospital. Professor YongKeun Park, a professor in the Department of Physics at KAIST, has been recognized for developing the core technology of ‘holotomography,’ which enables high-resolution 3D imaging and analysis of cells and tissues without the need for staining, significantly advancing the field of bioimaging. He succeeded both in developing the theoretical concepts of holotomography and in its practical application, overcoming the limitations of traditional microscopy techniques and greatly improving the efficiency of medical science research. Professor Hongyoon Choi, a professor in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital, has been recognized for his work integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with nuclear medicine molecular imaging and spatial transcriptomics data, which provide information on intracellular localization. By integrating these diverse fields, he has proposed new directions for medical diagnosis and treatment. Since founding a tech startup in 2021, he has been dedicated to translating spatial transcriptomics research into practical applications, aiming to develop AI-based biomarkers and innovative cancer treatments. The Asan Foundation established the Asan Award in Medicine in 2008 to honor outstanding achievements in the fields of basic and clinical medicine. Since its inception, the prize has been awarded to 53 individuals (14 in the Basic Medicine category, 15 in the Clinical Medicine category, and 24 in the Young Medical Scientist category). The 18th Asan Award in Medicine recipients has been selected through a review process by a committee of medical science experts and an operating committee.
