The Yonsei Medical Research Center was opened in April, 1996 after two and a half years of construction work. The primary goal of the Yonsei Medical Research Center lies in facilitating research collaboration between faculties of the clinical departments and basic medical research scientists, and ultimately in the improvement of medical research by providing an institutionalized environment to stimulate and enhance new medical knowledge that can ultimately be incorporated into clinical applications. Another aim is to nurture research in order to promote the College of Medicine at Yonsei university to the level of international competitiveness. The Center occupies approximately 7675㎡ of laboratory space from the second to the sixth floor in the new building, and it also includes the existing research laboratory spaces located in the Medical Science Building.

The Medical Research Center is guided by the Director and the Heads of its two main divisions, which are the division of research activity and the division of laboratory animal medicine. In the division of research activity, there are eight laboratories: morphology, electrophysiology, molecular biology, immunology, cellbiology, medical genetics, medical radiology and endocrinology. The division of laboratory animal medicine has four sections: animal resources, veterinary medical care, animal husbandry services and the clinical laboratory.

Imaging Center at Yonsei medical Research Center was opened in April 2010. The center is equipped with various facilities for education, including confocal microscopes and Two photon confocal microsopes. Since the opening of the center, many researchers have contributed to stimulating and enhancing the new medical knowledge and improving one’s skill for using the imaging through the continuous education and the seminars.