Rutgers Welcomes Korean Biomedical Leaders for Research Collaboration & Global Job Fair

From June 12 through 15, Rutgers University hosted a research collaboration and partnership development program that brought together approximately 200 biomedical researchers, medical school leaders, government-supported research fellows, and trainees from South Korea, reinforcing Rutgers' growing role as a global hub for biomedical innovation and international research partnerships.

Hosted in collaboration with the Korea Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC), the program brought together recipients of South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) Overseas Training Program, Korean biomedical researchers, and representatives from many of Korea's leading medical schools and research organizations.

The initiative was designed to deepen institutional partnerships, expand collaborative research opportunities, and connect Korean biomedical talent with Rutgers faculty, researchers, and innovation leaders. (See photos)

“This program reflects Rutgers' commitment to advancing global scientific collaboration,” said Ji-Yeung Jang, Assistant Vice President for Global Affairs at Rutgers Global. “We were honored to support KAMC's efforts in collaboration with our colleagues across Rutgers Health.” She added, “Together, we connected Korean research fellows with Rutgers faculty, coordinated laboratory and campus visits, and created opportunities for meaningful scientific exchange that we hope will lead to new research partnerships, faculty engagement, and long-term collaboration between Rutgers and Korea's biomedical research community.”

Bishr Omary, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research at Rutgers Health, who was one of the keynote speakers at the event, noted, “The partnership with KAMC, and this event and the energy it brought, is a wonderful example of Rutgers Health expanding engagement with South Korea. It builds on our friendships with South Korean colleagues, and reflects the university's broader interest in developing long-term and impactful international collaborations that together advance scientific research, education, and innovation.”

The delegation included approximately 30 MOHW Overseas Training Program fellows, accompanied by family members, and nearly 150 overseas Korean biomedical researchers, and representatives from leading Korean institutions. The institutions included: Seoul National University, Korea University, The Catholic University of Korea, Ajou University, CHA University, and Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology (UNIST), as well as biotechnology company Psomagen. Representatives from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI USA), Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Joslin Diabetes Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine also participated.

Showcasing Rutgers' Research Excellence

The program began with campus and laboratory tours, including a tour of the new HELIX, the New Jersey Innovation Hub (the Health & Life Science Exchange, providing industries and universities the critical ecosystem to research, learn, work, and collaborate), introducing participants to Rutgers' internationally recognized research enterprise.

Visitors met faculty across several interdisciplinary research areas, including artificial intelligence in medicine, clinical and translational research, nanomedicine and drug delivery, cancer research, and precision medicine.

Participating Rutgers researchers included:

• Naveena Yanamala, associate professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, whose work focuses on clinical research and artificial intelligence applications in cardiovascular medicine.
• Zeeshan Ahmed, assistant professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an expert in biomedical data science and AI.
• Steven An, professor of pharmacology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and associate director of the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science.
• Ki-Bum Lee, distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical biology, internationally recognized for his research in nanomedicine, biomaterials, and drug delivery.
• Ankit Saxena, managing director of the Immune Monitoring and Flow Cytometry Shared Resource at Rutgers Cancer Institute.

The laboratory visits were designed to introduce Korean fellows to Rutgers' cutting-edge research facilities while fostering conversations about future collaborative projects.

Research, Careers, and Global Partnerships

The centerpiece of the program was a full-day research workshop and Global Job Fair that brought together Korean biomedical researchers, medical school leaders, and Rutgers faculty to foster scientific exchange, career development, and international research partnerships.

The workshop included keynote lectures from nationally recognized experts in cancer immunotherapy, biomedical research, and genomic medicine, followed by parallel sessions featuring collaborative research discussions, networking opportunities, and one-on-one career meetings.

A dedicated Global Job Fair provided opportunities for participants to meet directly with representatives from participating medical schools, explore research and faculty positions, and discuss future training opportunities.

Research teams composed of Rutgers investigators and Korean fellows also presented collaborative research proposals developed during the workshop, highlighting the program's emphasis on building long-term scientific partnerships rather than one-time exchanges.

Building Long-Term Collaboration

In addition to research programming, representatives from KAMC and Korean medical schools met with Rutgers leadership and faculty to explore broader institutional partnerships, including faculty exchange, student mobility, joint research initiatives, and expanded opportunities to host future trainees and visiting scholars.

Medical school representatives also toured additional Rutgers research facilities, including laboratories within the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and the Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine, where they learned about Rutgers' advanced cryo-electron microscopy capabilities and interdisciplinary biomedical research infrastructure.

Dr. Jang remarked, “By bringing together leading biomedical researchers from both countries, the KAMC program at Rutgers generated new collaborations addressing pressing global health challenges while strengthening Rutgers' position as a premier destination for international research partnerships.”