Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital

Research programs of Hallym University Medical Center with the world top-class medical institutions have recently been fastmoving.

Hallym signed research agreements with Uppsala University, Sweden on November 16, 2010, and with the National Center for Geriatrics & Gerontology (NCGG), Japan, on November 25, 2010, respectively.

Since the first meeting at Uppsala in February, 2008, the two institutions have been working together on annual academic symposiums and long-term medical trainings. Their mutual academic trust has brought a new collaborative relationship for activating further academic research. The new partnership between Hallym and Uppsala is more meaningful that both universities are not just focusing on academic exchange, but also practicing joint research by establishing a branch research center of Hallym in the Rudbeck Laboratory, the most advanced research facility at Uppsala University. They will also keep holding joint symposiums in Seoul and Uppsala to beef up mutual academic collaboration.

Uppsala University with its time-honored tradition and 560 years of history is enjoying a global reputation. The university is also widely known as a future-oriented translational medical research.

Meanwhile, the agreement with NCGG is focusing on research for the aging and aliments of the elderly including Alzheimer's disease and osteoporosis as well as aging society. NCGG, which was established in 2004, is the sixth highly specialized medical center of its kind in Japan. It was set up by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, as a medical facility for diagnose, treatment, survey and research of geriatrics and gerontology.

Hallym also has already been operating a geriatric health center with 170 beds at Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital since 1991, the nation’s first specialized geriatric center. The recognition of Hallym’s geriatric center as the nation’s best facility helped NCGG enter into partnership with Hallym which is NCGG’s first international research affiliation.

Both institutions held a collaborative symposium on Molecular Basis of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders in 2007, and the third academic gathering is due in September this year to share thoughts on aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

By Sung-won Lee, Int’l Operations Team, HUMC (sungwon@hallym.or.kr)