Participants of the Women's Bioscience Forum's symposium pose at the ST Center in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Women's Bioscience Forum
The Women's Bioscience Forum (WBF) successfully hosted its annual symposium at the ST Center in Seoul, Thursday.
The WBF is an organization of women scientists in biology. It was established in 2001 and aims to strengthen the country's competitiveness in life science by empowering women in the field and supporting gender equality.
The organization hosts an annual conference to build networks among women bioscientists, nurture leadership and remain dedicated to developing the next generation of women scientists.
WBF President Baik Ja-hyun
“We look forward to a valuable networking opportunity for bioscientists seeking new possibilities through collaboration and convergence between basic and clinical research,” WBF President Baik Ja-hyun said.
The symposium was divided into four sessions. In the first session, professor Kim Eun-ha from Korea University College of Medicine, professor Kim Chan-hyuk from Seoul National University College of Pharmacy and professor Choi Hyung-jin from Seoul National University College of Medicine each gave presentations on the latest issues in their fields.
The second session featured the two award ceremonies for the WBF- SeokOh Bioscientist Award and the Moonsook Saebyul Award. The former, sponsored by Kolmar Holdings since 2021, honors outstanding mid-career women scientists and this year's edition went to professor Lee Yun-hee from Seoul National University College of Pharmacy and professor Lee Seung-hee of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
The Moonsook Award, founded in 2005, recognizes outstanding young women bioscientists in Korea and supports women's advancement in the scientific community. This year, five scholars and students received the award.
In the third session, a graduation ceremony took place for the undergraduate internship program, which was supported by the Korea Federation of Women's Science & Technology Associations.
“The WBF Symposium, a program of cooperation and exchange that shares the wisdom of senior researchers with diverse experiences and at the same time encourages the research of young researchers, is becoming more enriched every year,” Baik said.