Professors Bokun Jang, Jungseon Kim, and Dongwook Kim Named Recipients of the 24th Pfizer Medical Award

Basic Medicine Award: Bokun Jang, Jeju National University
Clinical Medicine Award: Jungseon Kim, Yonsei University
Translational Medicine Award: Dongwook Kim, Yonsei University


Advances in Gastric Cancer Mechanisms, Antithrombotic Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation, and Cell Therapy Research for Parkinson’s Disease

The 24th Pfizer Medical Award, organized by the National Academy of Medicine of Korea and sponsored by Pfizer Korea, has named the following recipients: Professor Bokun Jang of the Department of Pathology at Jeju National University College of Medicine; Professor Jungseon Kim of the Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine; and Professor Dongwook Kim of the Department of Physiology at Yonsei University College of Medicine.

Winners of the 24th Pfizer Medical Award. From the left, Professor Bo-Geun Jang of Jeju National University, Professor Joong-Sun Kim of Yonsei University, and Professor Dongwook Kim of Yonsei University. Pfizer Korea Pharmaceuticals

According to the National Academy of Medicine of Korea and Pfizer Korea on September 29, Professor Bokun Jang received the Basic Medicine Award in recognition of his research clarifying the biological characteristics of subtypes of gastric intestinal metaplasia and the mechanisms behind gastric cancer development. Professor Jang demonstrated that incomplete-type intestinal metaplasia is not simply a less differentiated state, but rather a unique condition possessing the identities of both gastric and intestinal epithelia, with distinct epigenetic properties compared to complete-type intestinal metaplasia.

Professor Jang validated his findings by generating organoids for each subtype of intestinal metaplasia derived from patient tissues, and by conducting spatial transcriptomics and epigenomics analyses. This research was published in the international journal Gut.

Professor Jungseon Kim, who received the Clinical Medicine Award, led a study to propose long-term antithrombotic therapy strategies for patients with atrial fibrillation who have reached a stable state after receiving drug-eluting stents. A randomized clinical trial involving 30 medical institutions in Korea demonstrated that, in patients who remained stable for more than one year after stent procedures, monotherapy with novel oral anticoagulants was clinically more advantageous than combination therapy with anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents. The research was published in the international journal The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Professor Dongwook Kim, recipient of the Translational Medicine Award, was recognized for extending research on Parkinson’s cell therapy into the clinical stage. Professor Kim developed a universal and highly efficient neural cell differentiation method as well as technology for suppressing tumorigenicity, and based on these advances, conducted clinical trials transplanting dopamine cells derived from embryonic stem cells into patients with Parkinson’s disease. The research team observed improvements in motor function and daily living ability after cell transplantation without serious safety issues. The results were published in the international journal Cell.

The awards ceremony for the 24th Pfizer Medical Award is scheduled to be held on November 4. Each recipient will receive a prize of KRW 50 million and a plaque for their respective category.

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