Chungnam National University selected for National Research Lab project to lead theranostics research

Chungnam National University’s campus in Daejeon / Courtesy of Chungnam National University

Chungnam National University has been selected to participate in a large-scale government-led research and development project along with three other universities.

The university said Monday that it will carry out the National Research Lab (NRL) 2.0 project funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The three other participants are Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University and Changwon National University.

NRL 2.0 is a key national research and development (R&D) initiative aimed at securing world-class fundamental technologies and strengthening the country’s competitiveness in strategic technologies.

Under the project, the selected universities are tasked to establish globally competitive research institutes with participation from government-funded research institutes, corporations and hospitals.

The government has selected the four universities among more than 30 universities vying to participate in the project through a rigorous evaluation process. The four universities will each receive 10 billion won in annual research funding for a 10-year period.

Chungnam National University plans to set up a Theranostics Convergence National Research Laboratory (TCNRL), which will play a pivotal role in the project.

The university said the TCNRL will serve as a world-class research hub in the field of theranostics and lead the development of next-generation precision medicine technologies while driving innovation in the biohealth industry over the next 10 years.

Theranostics is a combination of therapy and diagnostics. It is a next-generation precision medicine technology, enabling the early detection of cancer and other intractable diseases while providing personalized treatments tailored to individual patients.

As the global bioindustry is rapidly shifting toward personalized medicine, theranostics is emerging as a key technology with significant potential as a future national growth engine.

The university noted that it has systematically built research capabilities in theranostics based on its interdisciplinary research capacity across medicine, pharmacy, engineering and natural sciences.

It has also expanded its industry-academia-research institute-hospital collaboration network involving the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Chungnam National University Hospital and local biotech companies.

“Our university’s Theranostics Convergence National Research Laboratory will go beyond being a simple research organization and become a national flagship research hub leading theranostics research in Korea,” said Kim Jeong-kyoum, president of the university.

He added, “By establishing an open research platform where universities, government-funded research institutes, hospitals and companies closely collaborate, we will produce world-class research outcomes and contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of the regional and national biohealth industries.”

The university received strong recognition for establishing a collaborative ecosystem that connects Daedeok Innopolis and the bioindustry base in South Chuncheong Province. It was also highly evaluated for creating a full-cycle R&D platform integrating global collaborative research, technology commercialization and future talent development.

According to the university, the TCNRL will lead efforts to develop technologies, expand global research collaboration, nurture research talent, promote technology commercialization and startup creation, and foster an innovative ecosystem for the regional bioindustry.