In 2025, Global Health and Medical Research Institutions Will Visit Korea

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced on the 21st that Korea has been officially confirmed as the host country for next year's HIROs meeting at the 2024 International Health Research Organizations (HIROs) meeting held in South Africa on the 18th and 19th.

Scenes from the 2024 International Health Research Organization Heads (HIROs) meeting held in South Africa on the 18th-19th [Photo by Korea Health Industry Development Institute]

HIROs is a meeting attended by heads of biohealth research and development (R&D) support organizations worldwide. It includes 35 institutions from 21 countries such as the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), European Research Council (ERC), UK Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome Trust, and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED). Their combined annual investment exceeds 100 trillion KRW.

HIROs shares key national and institutional updates and global issues through annual regular meetings and discusses global collaborative activities. Domestically, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute is the only HIROs member institution, having joined and participated since 2015.

This year's HIROs meeting was hosted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), a member institution based in South Africa. A total of 22 institutions attended the meeting, including John-Arne Røttingen, CEO of the UK Wellcome Trust, Yoshinao Mishima, Chairperson of Japan's AMED, and Maria Leptin, Chair of the European Research Council. The meeting involved sharing updates from member institutions and discussions on recent issues such as career development for physician-scientists and researchers, fair use and access to artificial intelligence (AI), and strengthening global biohealth research and development (R&D) consortia.

Since his appointment at the end of 2022, Cha Sun-do, President of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, has continuously promoted and worked to attract the 2025 HIROs meeting. Especially at this meeting, he expressed a strong commitment to hosting the event in Korea and made active efforts, resulting in the successful confirmation of Korea as the host for the 2025 HIROs meeting.

President Cha said, "I am very honored that the HIROs meeting, which brings together leaders of the world's leading biohealth R&D institutions, will be held in Korea in 2025. Through networking with HIROs members, the Korean government, and biohealth R&D-related organizations, as well as visits to Korean research and medical sites, we will do our best to showcase Korea's excellent biohealth technology level and create opportunities to strengthen global cooperation."

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