Director Gou Young Koh won the ‘LE&RN-GRC Lifetime Achievement Award' at the  Gordon Research Conference, Lymphatics

Director Gou Young Koh won the ‘LE&RN-GRC Lifetime Achievement Award' at the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Lymphatics.

The LE&RN-GRC Lifetime and Career Achievement Awards in Lymphatic Research are intended to recognize those individuals who have made a significant contribution to the promotion and support of lymphatic research, to advancing lymphatic research and/or finding improved treatments and cures for lymphatic diseases (LD), lymphedema (LE), lipedema (LI), and related diseases.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has had a lifetime of outstanding achievements in the field of lymphatics and who must have a career spanning over 20 years.

The Center for Vascular Research at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), led by Director Gou Young Koh, has been selected for the "2025 National R&D Top 100 Performance" by the Ministry of Science and ICT. This prestigious honor recognizes the team’s groundbreaking discovery of the Nasopharyngeal Lymphatic Plexus (NPLP) as the primary hub for draining cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and metabolic waste from the brain.

Published in the journal Nature, the study revealed that the NPLP, located behind the nose, acts as a central drainage path that is significantly more efficient than previously known routes. Most importantly, the team demonstrated a new paradigm: brain waste clearance can be regulated from outside the skull using pharmacological treatments. This discovery by Director Koh and researchers Jin-Hui Yun, Hokyung Jin, Hae Jin Kim, and Seon Pyo Hong provides a vital foundation for treating neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia by improving the brain's "self-cleaning" ability in an aging society.

An article titled “Cooperative ETS transcription factors are required for lymphatic endothelial cell integrity and resilience” has recently been published in Journal of Clinical Investigation

An article titled "Cooperative ETS transcription factors are required for lymphatic endothelial cell integrity and resilience" is published in Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Co-first authors Myung Jin Yang and Seok Kang, along with their research team at the IBS Center for Vascular Research, have identified the transcription factors Erg and Fli1 as essential cooperative regulators of the lymphatic system. 

Their study demonstrates that the combined loss of these factors in adult mice leads to fatal lymphatic failure, impaired immune cell trafficking, and chronic inflammation. By linking these genetic mechanisms to human conditions like lymphedema, the authors establish Erg and Fli1 as the core "switches" required for lymphatic identity, functional resilience, and injury repair.

Nasal ciliated cells are primary targets for SARS-CoV-2 replication in early stage of COVID 19

Lymphatic vessel in lacteal