△ Professor Tae-hoon Ko, Catholic Medical Center (CMC)

 Professor Tae-hoon Ko of the Artificial Intelligence Brain Science Project Group at the Basic Medical Sciences Project Implementation Division of Catholic Medical Center (CMC), who is also a faculty member of the Department of Medical Informatics at the College of Medicine, has received the 2024 Korean Society of Medical Informatics Award, enhancing Korea's standing in the field of medical informatics. 

 The Medical Informatics Award is one of the most prestigious recognitions in the field, given to a single outstanding early-career researcher each year by the Korean Society of Medical Informatics. It was established to encourage next-generation scholars with innovative research ideas and a vision for the future of medical informatics.

 Professor Ko has made significant contributions to the field, publishing 30 SCI-indexed papers, including his influential study, “Comparison of AI with and without hand-crafted features to classify Alzheimer's disease in different languages.” He has been recognized for his academic achievements, particularly in leading standardization efforts for medical artificial intelligence (AI) and the secondary use of health data. 

 Professor Ko is currently conducting research on multimodal artificial intelligence applicable to clinical settings at the Artificial Intelligence Brain Science Project Group of the Basic Medical Sciences Project Implementation Division at Catholic Medical Center. He is actively involved in national AI-driven healthcare projects, collaborating with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) on initiatives such as medical AI, medical MyData, and the development of datasets for healthcare-specialized hyperscale language models. His research plays a crucial role in shaping the future of AI in healthcare and medical informatics.

 The Artificial Intelligence Brain Science Project Group at the CMC was launched in 2023 with a focus on developing brain cognitive enhancement technologies by leveraging brain imaging, AI, and human digital twin technologies, while also building health information systems customized for digital healthcare environments. The Project Group is opening new horizons in the convergence of medical informatics and artificial intelligence technology.

 Expressing his gratitude, Professor Ko shared, "Receiving this award is an incredible honor and a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Moving forward, I will dedicate myself to further research and education to support the next generation of medical informatics scholars and expand opportunities in this field."

 In addition to this award, Professor Ko was also recognized for his contributions to the ethical and transparent use of healthcare data. Through his involvement in the Medical Data-Centric Hospital Support Project, he played a key role in establishing policies for responsible data sharing and collaboration across healthcare institutions. For these efforts, he received the Minister of Health and Welfare's Commendation for Excellence in Healthcare Data Utilization at the Medical Data-Centric Hospital Achievement Exchange Conference, hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

 The Basic Medical Sciences Project Implementation Division at Catholic Medical Center plans to strengthen its leading role in medical informatics and realize social value through research and education, building on this recognition.

 △  Professor Tae-hoon Ko of the CMC receives the 2024 Korean Society of Medical Informatics Award and poses for a commemorative photo.