Professors Ho-Young Lee of Seoul National University and Seung Up Kim of Yonsei University Receive Awards

In the Young Medical Scientists category, Professor Martin Steinegger of Seoul National University and Professor Joo Myung Lee of Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine were honored

A total of 700 million won was awarded to four recipients at the ceremony held on March 18 at the Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul

▲ Recipients of the 19th Asan Award in Medicine—Professor Ho-Young Lee (Basic Medicine), Professor Seung Up Kim (Clinical Medicine), and Professors Martin Steinegger and Joo Myung Lee (Young Medical Scientists category), from left—provided by the Asan Foundation.

The Asan Foundation (Chairman Chung Mong-Joon) held the 19th Asan Award in Medicine ceremony on March 18 at the Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul, and presented 300 million won each to Professor Ho-Young Lee (64) of the College of Pharmacy at Seoul National University, the recipient in the Basic Medicine category, and Professor Seung Up Kim (51) of the Division of Gastroenterology at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, the recipient in the Clinical Medicine category.

In the Young Medical Scientists category, Professor Martin Steinegger (41) of the School of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University and Professor Joo Myung Lee (45) of the Division of Cardiology at Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, each received 50 million won, bringing the total prize money awarded to four recipients to 700 million won.

Professor Ho-Young Lee, the recipient in the Basic Medicine category, was recognized for systematically elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which environmental factors such as smoking and fine particulate matter promote the development and progression of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and for proposing new therapeutic strategies based on these findings.

Professor Seung Up Kim, the recipient in the Clinical Medicine category, was honored for leading the field of noninvasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis by pioneering the introduction of transient elastography (FibroScan) in Korea in 2005, and for establishing new standards in the treatment of liver diseases.

In the Young Medical Scientists category, which is awarded to medical scientists under the age of 45, Professor Martin Steinegger was recognized for leading innovation in protein structure analysis by developing software that predicts and analyzes protein structures hundreds of times faster and more accurately than existing methods, utilizing big data and machine learning technologies.

Professor Joo Myung Lee was honored for his globally recognized research achievements in coronary artery disease, particularly in the fields of cardiovascular interventional imaging and physiological assessment, contributing to improved patient outcomes.

In his congratulatory remarks, Chairman Chung Mong-Joon stated, “Medical science not only contributes to overcoming human diseases, but also holds great potential as an industry that will help shape the future of Korea and the world. I hope that the Asan Award in Medicine will contribute, even in a small way, to the advancement of medical science.”

The Asan Foundation established the Asan Award in Medicine in 2008 to encourage medical scientists who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of Basic Medicine and Clinical Medicine. To date, a total of 61 researchers—16 in Basic Medicine, 17 in Clinical Medicine, and 28 in the Young Medical Scientists category—have received the award.