Professor Jang Gi-taek of Samsung Seoul Hospital Elected as the 17th President of the Korean Society of Pathologists

Samsung Medical Center announced on the 10th that Professor Jang Gi-taek of the Department of Pathology was elected as the 17th President of the Korean Society of Pathologists.

Professor Jang was elected as the ‘next chairman’ through a voting process at the council meeting of the Korean Society of Pathologists’ Autumn Academic Conference and was approved as the next chairman at the general meeting held on the 27th of last month. The term of the next chairman is two years, from January 2025 to December 2026.

The Korean Society of Pathologists was founded in 1946 under the name ‘Joseon Pathological Society,’ making it the second domestic basic medical science society established in Korea. It was established to promote research and dissemination of pathology and to share the latest pathological knowledge among its members, and currently has over 1,200 members.

Pathology is a basic field closely related to clinical practice, and hospital pathology departments perform critical tasks responsible for the final diagnosis of patients. Diagnostic work in hospital pathology departments has evolved from the classical surgical pathology diagnosis using only microscopes to a more specialized field with the development of special staining techniques such as immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining, as well as the introduction of electron microscopy. With the advancement of molecular pathology, it has become a core element in the field of precision medicine.

Additionally, with the recent development of artificial intelligence, research on AI analysis using digital pathology is receiving significant attention and is expected to be a promising field in the future.

Professor Jang Gi-taek stated, “The Korean Society of Pathologists, which has made great progress over the past 70 years, is now at a stage where it must pursue qualitative growth alongside quantitative growth. To this end, we will prepare academic conferences and society events that members of the pathology society can participate in.” He also requested members to take an active interest and participate, emphasizing that “improving pathology fees in the insurance sector is essential for this.”

Since 2019, Professor Jang has served as the head of the Department of Pathology and the director of the Biobank at Samsung Medical Center. He also served as the International Cooperation Director of the Korean Society of Pathologists from 2017 to 2020 and as the Secretary General of the society from 2021 to 2022.

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