Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) alumnus Kyu-Young Ko (Class of '77 in Medicine; professor at the Graduate School of Medical Science, KAIST) has been selected as the recipient of the Asan Medical Award, the most prestigious honor in the medical field.

The Asan Medical Award was established in 2007 by the Asan Social Welfare Foundation to encourage Korean medical professionals who have achieved outstanding accomplishments in basic and clinical medicine. The award ceremony for Professor Ko will be held on February 9 at The Westin Chosun Seoul in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, and Professor Ko will receive a trophy and KRW 200 million in prize money.

Professor Ko was selected as the 5th Asan Medical Award recipient in recognition of his discovery of a novel factor affecting tumor growth and metastasis and for laying the groundwork for the development of cancer therapeutics by effectively blocking this factor.

Professor Ko's research achievements in cancer therapy were also featured on the cover of Cancer Cell, the leading journal in oncology, in August 2010.

This was the first time a paper by a Korean research team appeared on the cover of Cancer Cell, and Professor Ko has maintained a vigorous research career, publishing some 180 papers in SCI journals in addition to Cancer Cell.

Last year, Professor Ko was also selected as the August recipient of the 'Scientist of the Month Award' by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in recognition of his contribution to the development of a novel cancer therapy concept by identifying a new factor involved in tumor growth and metastasis and developing a substance that effectively blocks it.

Prior to that, in 2007 he received the academic and research achievement award selected by JBNU to commemorate the university's 60th anniversary.

Meanwhile, Professor Ko graduated from JBNU's Department of Medicine and earned his medical doctorate at the same university. He then served as a professor in the Department of Biotechnology at Pohang University of Science and Technology and is currently serving as a professor at the Graduate School of Medical Science, KAIST.