Session Details

In the midst of a growing trend of declining populations in both Korea and Japan, we are facing pressing issues in the medical field, such as a lack of physicians in rural areas, an increase in elderly patients, and a decline in the working-age population resulting in a health workforce shortage, to name a few.

The Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Hokkaido University has joined the grand program "Industry-Academia Collaboration Project for Human Resource Development to Accelerate AI Research and Development in the Healthcare Field," funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT). The aim is to educate and cultivate innovators capable of developing solutions for the aforementioned issues using AI technologies. To fulfil that purpose, the “Clinical AI Human Resources Development Program (CLAP)” at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine provides education to students who are enrolled in medical AI education, focusing on each of the six priority areas specified by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW): genome medicine, diagnostic imaging, diagnostic and therapeutic support, drug development, dementia care, and surgical support. In addition, in 2021, the “Medical AI Research and Development Center" was established at the Hokkaido University Hospital to integrate AI resources within the Hokkaido University and provide a wide range of medical AI research and development support to medical AI researchers to strengthen the industry-academia collaboration and initiate positive changes.

Seoul National University (SNU) is also actively engaged in cutting-edge AI research. In particular, college of medicine strongly encourages AI applications for the medical fields, and supports research teams and start-ups. VitalLab is one of the most advanced AI labs in SNU College of Medicine. VitalLab conducts research on optimizing health care by collecting perioperative biosignal data and analyzing it with artificial intelligence techniques designed by our clinicians and engineers. Using our self-made VitalRecorder, VitalServer, and VitalDB, our lab researchers generated various research results for advancing medical knowledge, optimizing perioperative care, and reducing healthcare inequality.
Collaboration of 2 universities that are actively engaging in Medical AI development will not only enhance an interesting discussion among participants, but also a change to accelerate the development of new research. During this satellite session, faculties and students from Hokkaido University and Seoul National University are invited to give oral presentations on their medical AI research, encouraging a lively exchange of ideas. Understanding the perspectives of foreign researchers will deepen their comprehension and provide new insight into their own research of leading to opportunities for improving their research contents and exploring new career paths. Additionally, it will create joint research opportunities between Hokkaido University and Seoul National University, further accelerating the research and development of medical AI on a global scale.