□ Chairman Y.H. Park of Doosan Yonkang Foundation presented the “Medical Science Award of the Yonkang Academic Awards 2009” during the 61st academic conference of the Korean Surgical Society held at the COEX convention center in Seoul on November 13.

□ The award honored Prof. Kim Uk of Catholic University College of Medicine and research lecturer Yi Gyeong-bok at Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine for their research papers, “Influence of co-existing diseases on laparoscope-assisted radical stomach cancer surgery,” and the “Study of the occurrence of early complications following carotid endarterectomy, and analysis of risk factors for occurrence of cerebral infarction.” The two were granted a plague and US$ 8,600 in prize money each.

□ The Medical Science Award of the Yonkang Foundation Academic Awards is presented to authors of distinguished papers published in domestic and international journals. The award was introduced in 2007 in order to help develop Korea’s biomedicine and encouraging researchers’ will for and dedication to research.

□ Chairman Park said, “Surgical science is physically challenging and difficult, but is an essential area of medicine,” adding that “We hope that the Yonkang Academic Awards will help enhance a sense of pride and commitment to research among surgical science researchers.”