Sunyoung Ra of Yonsei University College of Medicine Selected as Recipient of the 24th Boryung Cancer Academic Award

Boryung and the Korea Cancer Research Foundation have selected Sunyoung Ra, Professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine, as the recipient of the 24th Boryung Cancer Academic Award.

The award ceremony for the 24th Boryung Cancer Academic Award will be held on June 27 at the Cancer Research Institute of Seoul National University Hospital. Professor Sunyoung Ra, the awardee, will receive a prize of 30 million won and a commemorative plaque.

Sunyoung Ra, Professor at Yonsei University College of Medicine. Photo by Boryung

Professor Ra graduated from Yonsei University College of Medicine and earned her master's and doctoral degrees from the same graduate school. Since 2011, she has served as a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine. She also holds the positions of Director of the Songdang Cancer Research Center at Yonsei University College of Medicine and President of the Korean Cancer Association, working to establish academic and policy foundations for cancer conquest within the university and academic societies.

In particular, Professor Ra is recognized as a leading translational research clinician in the field of oncology, contributing to advances in gastric cancer research and treatment. She has conducted biomarker-based clinical trials in gastric cancer and revised global clinical practice guidelines. She has also proposed new treatment guidelines for gastric cancer based on translational research, striving to improve patient survival rates and quality of life. Based on these achievements, including publishing over 70 papers in prestigious domestic and international journals over the past three years, she was selected as the award recipient in recognition of her research contributions.

The Boryung Cancer Academic Award was jointly established in 2002 by the Korea Cancer Research Foundation and Boryung to encourage and support researchers dedicated to cancer eradication research for the improvement of public health. Over the past 23 years, it has discovered innovative research achievements and increased domestic and international interest in cancer research. Through these efforts, it has contributed to the advancement of oncology research activities in Korea and has been recognized as the most prestigious award in the field of oncology in the country.

The awardee is selected from among physicians and scientists who have been engaged in oncology research for more than five years, based on their academic achievements over the past three years. Candidates are recommended and recruited through medical schools nationwide, relevant academic societies, and related institutions. The selection process includes a review by a newly formed achievement evaluation committee and deliberation by the steering committee each year. For the 24th Boryung Cancer Academic Award, a total of 333 papers from domestic and international sources were thoroughly reviewed to select the final recipient.