International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the Korean Vaccine Society (KSV) announced on Thursday that Professor Noh Ji-yun of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Korea University College of Medicine has been selected as the recipient of the first “International Vaccine Institute-Korean Vaccine Society Young Scientist Award.”

Established jointly by IVI and  KSV, the award aims to recognize young scientists who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in vaccine research. The first award ceremony will take place on Sept. 19 during KSV's fall academic conference.

Professor Noh verified that memory T cells induced by Covid-19 mRNA vaccination maintain multifunctional immune responses against the Omicron variant, providing important scientific evidence for vaccine immunity persistence and variant response strategies.

Additionally, she developed draft clinical trial protocols for vaccines against various emerging infectious diseases, including Nipah virus, and established a method for evaluating antibody-mediated immunogenicity of the Covid-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2), contributing to the advancement of vaccine efficacy assessment technologies in Korea.

Based on these research achievements, Professor Noh has played a leading role in vaccine evaluation and clinical trial design as the principal investigator of numerous national research projects, according to IVI and KSV.

“As a medical scientist, Professor Noh Ji-yun’s research provides deep insights into the immune mechanisms induced by vaccines, and her research on memory T cells has scientifically supported the importance of vaccination even against new variants,” said Jerome Kim, the Director General of IVI.

KVS President Choi Eun-hwa said, “Professor Noh’s dedicated research and international collaboration achievements will serve as a model for the next generation of vaccine scientists.”