Korea University College of Medicine Opens Dedicated MRI Precision Imaging Research Center

Korea University College of Medicine announced on the 16th that it held the opening ceremony for the MRI Precision Imaging Research Center and a commemorative international symposium at Jeongneung Medi-Science Park on the 14th.

Group photo at the opening ceremony of the MRI Precision Imaging Research Center. Korea University College of Medicine

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With this event, Korea University College of Medicine officially opened the first dedicated MRI Precision Imaging Research Center among all medical schools in Korea. It is being evaluated as an opportunity to further strengthen international cooperation in the field of advanced brain imaging research.

The MRI Precision Imaging Research Center is expected to serve as one of the five core institutions leading advanced research at Jeongneung Medi-Science Park, alongside the privately established Vaccine Innovation Center (the first of its kind), the largest private sector biosafety center, the Korea University-UNIST Joint Research Institute, and the Department of Medical Informatics, which has the largest number of full-time faculty among all medical schools in Korea.

At the opening ceremony, Korea University College of Medicine officially unveiled its state-of-the-art 3T MRI suite, marking the full-scale start of the center. The subsequent progress report highlighted that this achievement was made possible by generous investments from the medical center and the college of medicine to advance medical research.

The international symposium was attended by leading scholars from the University of Nottingham Medical School. The event featured a keynote lecture by Professor Dorothee P. Auer, who was appointed as a visiting professor at Korea University, as well as a special lecture on neural modulation by Professor Marcus Kaiser, a renowned expert in the connectome field.

Domestic speakers included Sungki Kim, head of the Brain Science Imaging Research Group at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), who shared IBS’s expertise in MRI operations and advanced research achievements. Jonghwan Lee, professor of Brain Engineering at Korea University, highlighted examples of integrative brain imaging research. Other speakers included Hakjin Kim, professor of Psychology at Korea University; Jaeyoung Jung, professor of Psychology at the University of Nottingham; Byungjoo Ham and Kyuman Han, professors of Psychiatry at Korea University College of Medicine; Byungjo Kim, professor of Neurology; and Sunghye Yoo, professor of Radiology. With the opening of this center, Korea University now operates both a College of Medicine-centered MRI Precision Imaging Research Center and a science and engineering-centered MRI Brain Imaging Research Center.

The two universities also discussed ways to promote international collaborative research in the field of advanced MRI. Since 2018, Korea University College of Medicine and the University of Nottingham Medical School have published advanced MRI research papers and introduced new diagnostic techniques, focusing on psychiatry, rehabilitation medicine, and neurology.

Byun Sungbum, Dean of Korea University College of Medicine, stated, "With the opening of the MRI Precision Imaging Research Center, Korea University College of Medicine is poised to become a global research hub," adding, "In particular, our partnership with the University of Nottingham will serve as an important starting point for expanding international joint research."

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