Winners Announced for the 21st Pfizer Medical Prize
Professor Ji Heon-young, Park Deok-woo, and Kim Nam-guk have been selected as winners of the 21st Pfizer Medical Prize, hosted by the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences and sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea.
Winners in Each Category
- Basic Medicine Award: Professor Ji Heon-young (Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine)
- Clinical Medicine Award: Professor Park Deok-woo (Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine)
- Translational Medicine Award: Professor Kim Nam-guk (Department of Convergence Medicine, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul Asan Medical Center)
The 21st Pfizer Medical Awards ceremony will take place on November 1 at 6 pm at the Grand Ballroom of Baekyang-ro Plaza Hall at Yonsei University. Each category winner will receive a cash prize of 50 million won and a plaque.
Director Wang Kyu-chang of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences expressed his admiration for the award-winning research studies, stating that they have not only made significant contributions to the domestic medical field but have also provided solutions to global unmet medical needs. He hopes that this recognition will inspire more active research in the future, leading to advancements in the medical field.
Achievements of the Winners:
Professor Ji Heon-young, winner of the Basic Medicine Award, conducted groundbreaking research on the inhibition of metastasis and cell adhesion in cancer cells. His work has provided new insights into the formation of circulating cancer cells and metastasis.
Professor Park Deok-woo, recipient of the Clinical Medicine Award, conducted a large-scale clinical study that demonstrated no significant difference in major cardiac events between high-risk patients who underwent regular stress function tests after coronary stent surgery and those who did not. This study has dispelled the necessity of routine examinations in this patient population.
Professor Kim Nam-guk, winner of the Translational Medicine Award, developed a deep learning model for disease detection using brain CT data from normal individuals. This outlier detection method has shown promise in accurately detecting various diseases in emergency patients, reducing reading time, and presenting a viable diagnostic system for emergency situations.
Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea CEO Oh Dong-wook expressed the company’s commitment to fostering innovation in the medical field and improving the level of Korean medicine. Pfizer will continue its collaboration with domestic medical scientists to further enhance medical potential and contribute to the advancement of healthcare.
The Pfizer Prize in Medicine, established in 1999 by the Korean National Academy of Medical Sciences and sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea, aims to support the development of the domestic medical community. It recognizes outstanding papers in the fields of Basic Medicine, Clinical Medicine, and Translational Medicine, and has become a prestigious medical award.
[의학신문·일간보사=김상일 기자]Professor Ji Heon-young, Park Deok-woo, and Kim Nam-guk were selected as winners of the 21st Pfizer Medical Prize, hosted by the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (Director Wang Kyu-chang) and sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea (CEO ). and President Oh Dong-wook).
The Basic Medicine Award went to Professor Ji Heon-young of the Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, the Clinical Medicine Award went to Professor Park Deok-woo, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine , and the Translational Medicine Award went to Professor Kim Nam-guk, Department of Convergence Medicine, Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul Asan Medical Center.
[사진] From left, ▲Basic Medicine Award winner Professor Ji Heon-young of the Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, ▲Clinical Medicine Award winner Professor Park Deok-woo, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College Medicine, and ▲Professor Kim Nam-guk Translational Medicine Award Winner, Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine.
The 21st Pfizer Medical Awards ceremony will be held at the Grand Ballroom of Baekyang-ro Plaza Hall at Yonsei University at 6 pm on November 1, and the winners in each category will be awarded 50 million (a total of 150 million won) and a plaque. .
Director of the Korean Academy of Medicine, Wang Gyu-chang, said, “All of the award-winning research studies selected this time are outstanding research achievements that have not only improved the domestic medical environment but also presented solutions to difficult problems which remained unmet needs globally, add innovation to the medical field and enable a leap forward. “I hope this can contribute to inspiring the research will of medical scientists so that research can be carried out for the development of our medicine country more active in the future,” he said.
Professor Ji Heon-young of the Department of Pharmacology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, winner of the Basic Medicine Award, was the first to confirm the metastasis inhibition-cell adhesion paradigm and identified the roles of cell adhesion regulators in the formation of circulating cancer. cancer cells and metastasis.
Although identifying the phenomenon of solid cancer cells converting into circulating cancer cells is still a task, we established a different paradigm than the epithelial-mesodermal transition hypothesis that explains the reprogramming phenomenon between existing epithelial and mesodermal cell shapes, and establish a pattern that was specifically known. for blood cells Key factors have been identified that mediate this, such as transcription factors.
Professor Ji Heon-young was selected as the recipient of the Basic Medicine Award in recognition of his outstanding research achievements in contributing to solving difficult problems in the life sciences community and conducting research on cancer and sensory systems based on molecular cell biology and genetics.
Professor Park Deok-woo of the Department of Internal Medicine of Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, winner of the Clinical Medicine Award, conducted a large-scale clinical study comparing the incidence or mortality rates of major cardiac events according to whether stress function tests regular examinations were carried out after coronary stent surgery in high risk patients, and found that there was no difference between the two groups of patients. This was the first to present clinical evidence that regular examinations do not need to be carried out because it is not large.
This study, which is considered to be of great public interest, was published in the internationally renowned medical journal ‘New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)’ and was recognized for its achievement in raising the level of domestic cardiology medicine globally. wide by confirming the clinical. basis for cardiovascular disease.
Professor Namguk Kim of the Department of Convergent Medicine at Asan Medical Center, Ulsan University College of Medicine, winner of the Translational Medicine Award, uses severity classification that uses a deep learning model as an outlier detection method to find diseases through learning brain CT Data from normal people instead of the commonly used method of learning specific diseases The feasibility of the system was confirmed.
When applying the outlier detection method, it was possible to detect various diseases more accurately in emergency patients, and reading time was proven to be significantly shortened, confirming a diagnostic system that can be used in emergency situations with many variables, and using domestic data to conduct clinical trials, present an alternative to address unmet needs
Professor Namguk Kim was evaluated for discovering a new method of treating patients in the field of artificial intelligence diagnosis.
“Pfizer pursues ‘innovation that changes patients’ lives’ and strives to create a healthier world through science,” said Oh Dong-wook, CEO of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea. “We are working with domestic medical scientists to improve the level of Korean medicine.” “We will continue various activities to further increase the medical potential and expand it rapidly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Pfizer Prize in Medicine is a prestigious pure medicine prize organized by the Korean National Academy of Medical Sciences and sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea. It was established in 1999, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea, to support the development the domestic medical community and fulfill its responsibilities as a corporate citizen.
Each year, the best papers are selected by evaluating the excellence, creativity, scientificity, and contribution of individual papers published within 2 years of the current year in three categories, including ‘Basic Medicine’, ‘Clinical Medicine’, and ‘Translational Medicine ‘. • Announcing the winners of the year.
The Pfizer Medical Prize, which has been discovered and supported by a total of 52 medical scientists through the selection of the 21st winner, encourages and supports a wide range of research by domestic medical scientists, from basic research to practical medical research, and it has become one. prestigious medical award year after year Its value is recognised.
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