Ahn Young-geun, Director of Jeonnam National University Hospital, Honored with the First 'Cheongsan Award' at Regional Medical Schools

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] An Young-geun of Chonnam National University Hospital became the first from a regional medical school to receive the ‘Cheongsan Award’ from the Biochemical and Molecular Biology Society.

According to Chonnam National University Hospital on the 27th, at the international academic conference of the Biochemical and Molecular Biology Society held the previous day at BEXCO Convention Hall in Busan, Director Ahn was recognized for his active academic and research activities and for raising the awareness of the society’s journal ‘EMM,’ receiving the 2021 Cheongsan Award.

The Cheongsan Award honors the outstanding research achievements of Professor Cheongsan (靑山) Shim Bong-seop, the 14th president of the Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and is a prestigious award given to one domestic or international scientist who has made excellent research achievements in the field of molecular medicine.

Since 2004, Director Ahn, who has been serving as a professor at Chonnam National University College of Medicine, has consistently carried out national projects from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. He has actively conducted research, publishing a total of 1,057 papers, including in globally prestigious journals such as Advanced Functional Materials.

As a result, he has been recognized for his research achievements, including election as a full member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology in 2014, receiving the Minister of Health and Welfare Award for Excellent Research in Health and Medical Technology in 2017, and election as a full member of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences in 2018.

In particular, Director Ahn’s academic paper published in EMM in 2014, titled Mesenchymal stem cells reciprocally regulate M1/M2 balance in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages, won the Excellent Science and Technology Paper Award at the 2015 Korea Science and Technology Annual Conference and the EMM Award for Most Cited Paper in 2016.

This paper demonstrated that adult stem cells transplanted into the myocardium after myocardial infarction convert inflammatory macrophages into anti-inflammatory ones, thereby terminating myocardial inflammation and promoting regeneration, enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of myocardial infarction.

It was also highly evaluated as foundational research for the recently active development of stem cell therapeutics and has been cited 351 times in databases such as the Web of Science to date.

Among papers published in EMM, this paper showed a high citation rate and played a significant role in raising EMM’s international recognition.

Director Ahn’s award is the first for a researcher from a regional medical school and is especially meaningful in contributing to reducing medical disparities between regions.

Director An Young-geun said, “The Cheongsan Award is more valuable and meaningful than any award I have received so far, and I personally feel very honored,” adding, “I will continue to do my best to contribute to the development of molecular medicine not only in Korea but also worldwide through ongoing research.”

Meanwhile, the Biochemical and Molecular Biology Society, founded in 1948, boasts the longest history in the field of biochemistry in Korea and is one of the most prestigious societies in the country with about 15,000 members.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.