UOS News
Distinguished Emeritus Professor Doyeol AHN Selected for the 2026 Quantum Innovation Catalyzer Program for Biomedical Applications by Cleveland Clinic
- Final selection under the theme “Quantum Algorithms for Cardiovascular CT-FFR Simulation and Tumor Microcirculation Modeling”
- Application of quantum algorithms to the Navier–Stokes fluid dynamics equations for cardiovascular blood flow analysis and tumor microcirculation analysis
The University of Seoul announced that the research team led by Distinguished Emeritus Professor Doyeol AHN of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been selected for the “Quantum Innovation Catalyzer Program,” jointly organized by Cleveland Clinic in the United States and K5 Global.
This research was conducted in collaboration with Professor Jung Im Jung and Professor Su Yon Chang of the Department of Radiology; Professors Jong-Chan Youn, Choi Young, and Jaeho Seung of the Department of Cardiology at The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital; Dr. Kyungreem Han of the Brain Science Institute at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST); and Singularity Quantum (CEO: Doyeol AHN), a U.S.-based quantum technology company. The study also received technical support from the National Quantum Laboratory (QLab) at the University of Maryland (College Park), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and IQM, a Finnish quantum computing company.
The selected project is entitled “Quantum Algorithms for Cardiovascular CT-FFR Simulation and Tumor Microcirculation Modeling,” with Emeritus Chair Professor Doyeol AHN of the University of Seoul serving as the principal investigator.
The Quantum Innovation Catalyzer Program is an international initiative jointly organized by Cleveland Clinic, widely recognized as one of the world’s leading institutions in cardiology, and K5 Global, a global investment firm headquartered in Tokyo. The program aims to develop innovative algorithms utilizing quantum computing technologies to solve complex biomedical problems that are difficult to address using conventional computing approaches. Its major research areas include 1) healthcare and life sciences, 2) digital health, 3) drug discovery and development, and 4) protein structure prediction.
Professor Ahn’s research team was ultimately selected amid intense global competition and received high evaluations for the originality, technical excellence, and commercial potential of the research. In addition, Singularity Quantum, which participated in the joint research, successfully secured substantial investment support from Cleveland Clinic and K5 Global through the program. K5 Global is widely recognized as an early investor in SpaceX.
▶ Schematic diagram of an open quantum system used for cardiovascular blood flow analysis results and computational fluid dynamics simulation models
This provides a framework for obtaining solutions to computational fluid dynamics equations from a comprehensive open-quantum-systems perspective while also facilitating effective strategies for error mitigation and quantum advantage implementation.
Professor Doyeol AHN previously developed quantum algorithms for solving the Navier–Stokes equations, one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems, and established a theoretical model that improves the reliability of quantum computing operations through a non-Markovian-based quantum error mitigation cost function proposed by the researcher. The resulting quantum computing-based computational fluid dynamics model is expected to represent a significant academic achievement that broadens the practical applicability of quantum computing—not only in precision medicine fields such as CT-FFR analysis for cardiovascular disease diagnosis and tumor microcirculation-based drug delivery modeling, but also more broadly. In particular, the study is expected to significantly reduce the cost and duration of drug development by optimizing the drug delivery stage, which has the highest failure rate in the drug development process.
This research achievement also has strong potential for future expansion into key technological fields associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution that require the analysis of nonlinear fluid dynamics equations, including precision medicine, high-speed aerodynamic flow analysis, heat exchanger design, and climate prediction.
This study was conducted with support from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)-funded project “Development of Quantum Computing Algorithms for Hypersonic Flow Analysis” and the Ministry of Science and ICT-funded project “Development and Application of Low-Overhead, High-Efficiency Quantum Error Mitigation Technologies in NISQ Environments” (total project scale: KRW 3.25 billion).
△ Principal Investigator: Emeritus Chair Professor Doyeol AHN (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Seoul)
This achievement is additionally noteworthy because it represents another consecutive international selection following the $1.3 million quantum computing challenge hosted in June 2025 by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences under the U.S. National Institutes of Health. At that time, the joint research team from the University of Seoul and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital was the only team selected from Korea. In the current program, the participation of KIST has further elevated the global standing of Korea’s quantum medical research.
Emeritus Chair Professor Doyeol AHN was named an IEEE Fellow in 2005 and a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2009 in recognition of his internationally recognized research achievements in semiconductor lasers and quantum information and communications. In 2016, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC). To date, he has published approximately 250 SCI papers and holds more than 40 international patents.
△ From left: Professor Jong-Chan Youn of the Department of Cardiology at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Professor Jung Im Jung of the Department of Radiology at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, and Dr. Kyungreem Han of the Brain Science Institute at KIST
*Link to Cleveland Clinic press release:
