Asan Medical Center ranked No. 1 in Korea and No. 64 in the world in the ‘Nature Index 2026 Rankings of Leading Research Medical Institutions’.

According to the Nature Index rankings on the 6th, Asan Medical Center rose 13 places to 64th worldwide from 77th last year. The share score, the metric used to calculate the rankings, increased from 25.9 last year to 33.4 this year.

The global No. 1 spot went to Massachusetts General Hospital, the largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School in the United States. The global placements of domestic medical institutions were Seoul National University Hospital (69th), Samsung Medical Center (145th), Yonsei University Health System (151st), and Korea University Medicine (212th).

The Nature Index is an indicator that aggregates the research contribution of each institution based on papers published in top-tier journals. It compiles research performance through papers published in 178 journals, including ‘The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)’, ‘The Lancet (The Lancet)’, ‘Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)’, and ‘Nature (Nature)’.

The rankings are determined not by the simple number of papers but by share, an indicator of research contribution. Starting this year, the Nature Index revamped its evaluation system to classify research fields at the level of individual papers rather than journals. It also expanded its scope from a focus on natural and health sciences to applied and social sciences, thereby reflecting outcomes from convergence research such as medical artificial intelligence and digital healthcare.

Asan Medical Center stated that a 29% year-over-year increase in share is a meaningful achievement showing that its substantive research impact, as reflected in publications in world-class journals, continues to expand. Kim Tae-Won, director of the Asan Institute for Life Sciences, said, “This achievement shows that the research capabilities of Asan Medical Center are being recognized internationally,” and added, “We will continue to strengthen support systems to enhance research competitiveness and create an optimal environment in which researchers can produce world-class research outcomes.”