▲ (From the left) DoSang Cho, Head of Data Business Unit, Ewha Womans University Medical Center; Kyung Jae Lee, Deputy Head of Strategy and Management Department, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center; Hong-Seok Park, Head of Medical Intelligence Information Office, Korea University Medical Center; Joon-Seok Lim, Head of Digital Health Department, Yonsei University Health System; Won-Chul Cha, Head of Digital Innovation Center, Samsung Medical Center; Chang-Hyun Kim, Deputy Head of Planning Department, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital; Jahae Kim, Deputy Head of Medical Information Department, Chonnam National University Hospital; and Hee Hwang, CEO of Kakao Healthcare
– Planning to expand the network into world’s largest research alliance with the participation of major domestic medical centers and university hospitals.
– Innovating global healthcare research based on big data and AI technology, while leading the forefront in implementing precision medicine.
– Kakao Healthcare will use AI technology and other tools to support global standardization of extensive clinical data and federated learning among hospitals.
[November 22, 2023] Kakao Healthcare (CEO Hwang Hee) announced on November 22th the launch of ‘Research Collaboration Network(Research Alliance)’ with major domestic medical institutions and university hospitals to lead the global healthcare research based on technologies such as big data and AI. The ‘Research Alliance’ includes Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Korea University Medical Center, Samsung Medical Center, Yonsei University Health System, Ewha Womans University Medical Center, Chonnam National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, with Kakao Healthcare serving as a technical support.
Under the principle of open innovation, hospitals willing to participate in the alliance can join the network and exchange data and technology without any restrictions. Furthermore, it ensures the autonomy and independence of hospitals in all research activities regardless of the participants and the form of collaboration, whether it be intra-hospital research, inter-hospital research, or research involving both hospital and enterprise.
Kakao Healthcare has verified the stability and security through pilot studies with some of the participating hospitals since earlier this year. Particularly noteworthy is the confirmation that large-scaled federated learning is possible without exporting data outside the hospitals, and the acknowledgement that the network offers greater utility than existing big data research method. Based on these findings, the agreement has been reached to the launch of the research collaboration network.
Kakao Healthcare will participate as a technology partner to support innovations of research and the implementation of precision medicine. Serving as ‘Data Enabler,’ it will provide global standardization technology for healthcare data, AI and machine learning-based analysis system, federated learning, and generative AI-based Natural Language Processing(NLP) technology. Additionally, it will also establish a big data-based, AI research platform and pursue research collaborations with major global companies.
“We expect that Research Alliance will promote innovations in the medical field, help find the best approaches for personalized patient treatment, and have a positive impact on research at medical institutions related to precision medicine,” expressed one of the participants of the signing ceremony.
Hwang Hee, CEO of Kakao Healthcare, stated, “Through this agreement, we expect to support the digital transformation of hospitals in the short term, and create various social-added values such as vitalizing clinical research, improving healthcare quality and innovating medical technology in the mid- to long term.” He also emphasized, “Kakao Healthcare, as a technology company, will play a pivotal role in promoting collaborations with global IT leaders such as Google Cloud and ceaselessly create opportunities for global research.” (End)
