Professor Han Kwang-hyeop, a Global Authority on Liver Disease, Provides Simultaneous Treatment at Gangnam CHA Hospital and CHA Um

by Lee Gwanju

Published 26 Apr.2023 10:04(KST)

Cha Hospital announced on the 26th that Professor Han Kwang-hyup, a world-renowned liver disease expert and former president of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, has joined Gangnam Cha Hospital and Chaum to begin clinical practice.

Professor Han Kwang-hyup.

Professor Han graduated from Yonsei University College of Medicine and worked for 40 years at Severance Hospital, serving as head of the liver cancer specialist clinic team, director of the liver center, professor of gastroenterology at Yonsei University College of Medicine, and research professor at Baylor College of Medicine in the United States.

He was the inaugural president of the Asia-Pacific Liver Cancer Association (APPLE) and chairman of the Korean Association for the Study of the Liver, and in 2019, he became the first Korean to serve as president of the International Association for the Study of the Liver (IASL). In 2020, upon his appointment as president of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, he translated three WHO guidelines on integrated elderly care into Korean and promoted health policy directions aimed at improving quality of life in old age as a core task.

He played a pivotal role in the national five major cancer screening program by creating the world's first predictive model for early detection of liver cancer through selective screening, and was the first in Korea to participate in international clinical trials related to hepatitis B treatment drugs. The 'combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy method' co-developed with his wife, Professor Sung Jin-sil of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Yonsei Cancer Hospital, is well known under both their names and has been featured in the prestigious cancer journal 'Cancer'.

Professor Han said, "Based on 40 years of clinical experience and know-how, I will take the lead in patient education for rapid treatment of liver cancer and liver diseases, as well as lifestyle correction for liver cancer prevention."