MGEL's research main focus is genomic cohort research. It aims to follow up epidemiologic factors (life/eating habits, occupational/environmental factors, and genetic factors) of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, and to discover and verify relevant biomarkers. Among the diverse activities of our lab, a large-scale genomic cohort study started in 2004 becoming one of the largest in Asia with a population around 170 000 healthy Korean adults. Additionally, Professor Kang Dae-hee leads The Asia Cohort Consortium (ACC), a research group that has gathered cohorts from diverse countries, including Korea. ACC has built data on about 1 million Asians and is conducting various studies jointly with countries in the continent. MGEL’s second area of research is case-control studies. The characteristics of the Seoul Breast Cancer Study (SeBCS) and the Seoul Gastric Cancer Study (SGCS) patients are studied using the patient-control data constructed through cooperation between various domestic medical institutions, which include Seoul National University Hospital. In addition to basic epidemiologic characteristics, we are conducting research on gene-environment interactions related to cancer development and prognosis by identifying risk factors between the patient group and the control group through the candidate gene approach and GWAS method in the molecular genome unit.