SNU Professor Oh Do-youn wins 35th Wunsch Medical Award's Main Award

On Wednesday, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS) and Boehringer Ingelheim Korea jointly announced that Professor Oh Do-youn of the Department of Internal Medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine has been named the recipient of the 35th Wunsch Medical Award's Main Award.

Assistant Professor Kim Young-gwang of the Department of Pathology at the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine will receive the Young Medical Scientist Award in the Basic Research category, and Senior Researcher Jin Ho-kyung at the KAIST Institute for Basic Science will also be honored with the Young Medical Scientist Award in the Clinical Research category.

Professor Oh has conducted extensive preclinical, intermediary, and clinical research in gastrointestinal cancers, including gastric, pancreatic, and biliary tract cancers.

Grounded in cancer biology, her research has focused on identifying therapeutic targets and discovering novel biomarkers for new drug development. She gained recognition not only for proposing new strategies for bile duct cancer treatment but also for improving the survival and quality of life of cancer patients worldwide.

Oh conducted a researcher-initiated phase 2 clinical trial in advanced bile duct cancer. In this trial, she added an immune checkpoint inhibitor to the existing standard chemotherapy regimen, confirming significant improvements in tumor response rates, progression-free survival, and overall survival.

By demonstrating the safety and efficacy of combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with cytotoxic chemotherapy in bile duct cancer, this study became the first of its kind globally. This work laid the foundation for subsequent phase 3 clinical trials worldwide. Later, Professor Oh served as the global lead investigator, reaffirming the combination immunotherapy regimen’s safety and efficacy and significantly shifting the global standard of care for bile duct cancer, thereby improving patient outcomes.

Her leadership in clinical research as a domestic investigator was particularly recognized, especially through collaborations with multinational pharmaceutical companies. Over a decade of dedication—despite limited interest in new drug development for bile duct cancer—led to the presentation of a new global standard treatment for the disease.

“It is a tremendous honor to receive the main award of the Wunsch Medical Prize, Korea's most prestigious medical award. I extend my gratitude to all the global co-researchers who participated in this study,” Professor Oh said. “I will continue striving to present more effective treatments to cancer patients worldwide through diverse clinical research.”

Assistant Professor Kim developed the technology “PEER-seq,” which leverages the gene-editing tool Prime Editing to enable large-scale evaluation of the functional effects of cancer-related gene mutations. He presented a comprehensive overview of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance profiles of EGFR mutations and proposed an approach to assess drug resistance in clinically uncertain variants, known as VUS (Variants of Uncertain Significance).

The technology is expected to contribute to the realization of personalized precision medicine tailored to patient genomes by evaluating and responding to the functions of previously undiscovered genetic mutations.

Senior Researcher Jin’s work identified the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage pathway, a process previously obscured by anatomical complexity. At the same time, he demonstrated that targeting the extra-cranial nasopharyngeal lymphatic network and cervical lymphatic vessels can improve CSF drainage function.

The research received high praise for being the first to propose an innovative treatment strategy—lymphatic regulation—that can be applied in actual clinical settings without invasive brain surgery.

KAMS President Lee Jin-woo stated, “I extend my sincere congratulations and gratitude to all Wunsch Medical Award recipients who have contributed to the advancement of Korea's medical and healthcare environment, improved patients' quality of life, and elevated the stature of Korean medicine.”

Lee continued, “We will continue to strive to discover the outstanding research achievements of domestic medical scientists and promote the development of Korean medical science, upholding the spirit of the Wunsch Medical Award.”

Boehringer Ingelheim Korea General Manager Ana-Maria Boie remarked, “We express our gratitude to the awardees who achieved outstanding research results through relentless effort in their respective fields, and to all researchers who have worked hard for the advancement of medical science in Korea.”

She continued, “Boehringer Ingelheim Korea will continue to provide innovative solutions to positively transform patients' lives and will persistently support domestic medical science research activities.”

The Wunsch Medical Award, organized by KAMS and sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Korea, is one of Korea's most prestigious honors for medical professionals. Named after Dr. Richard Wunsch, the personal physician to Emperor Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty and Korea's first German doctor, the award aims to promote academic excellence and strengthen Korean-German collaboration in medicine. Recipients are selected through rigorous evaluation for extraordinary contributions to medical science and the advancement of Korean medicine.

The Wunsch Medical Award Grand Prize is presented to physicians recognized for their contributions to domestic medical advancement after more than 20 years of practice or research. The Young Medical Scientist Award is given to medical professionals under 40 who have published outstanding papers of recognized academic value and contribution. The award ceremony for the three recipients is scheduled to take place at the Plenty Convention Center at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea, at 6 p.m. on Nov. 25.