The two institutions were selected as a new consortium under the 2026 K-MediST (Korea Medical Science & Technology) program, supervised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and administered by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
The five-year project runs from April 2026 through December 2030. Kim Tae-hoon, professor at Korea University College of Medicine and head of research at Korea University Anam Hospital, will serve as principal investigator, while Baek Seung-jae, dean of UNIST's Graduate School of Health Sciences and Technology, takes on the role of co-principal investigator.
At the heart of the partnership lies what the schools call the "KUNIST" platform, a joint framework offering a joint MD-PhD degree, a shared research institute, and direct support for technology commercialization.
A roughly 502-square-meter research hub will be set up at Korea University's Chung Mong-koo Hall in northern Seoul, linked to UNIST's high-performance computing and analytical infrastructure in Ulsan.
The curriculum revolves around four pillars — medical AI, precision medicine, smart hospitals and extreme medicine — and will be built on the ADDIE instructional design model to tailor coursework to each student's research focus. A so-called 'Data Living Lab' is to feed real-time clinical data into research, allowing trainees to move between bedside and bench without friction.
The program was modelled on Harvard-MIT's Health Sciences and Technology and Stanford University's BioX, both regarded as global benchmarks for physician-scientist training. The Korean partners say they intend to pursue joint research and exchange ties with those institutions.
"Physician-scientists are the core talent in the bio-health field who can solve problems encountered in clinical settings through laboratory research," said Jung Eun-young, director-general for health industry policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in a separate briefing on the broader program.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
