Inst. of Health and Environment

Research Centers

Institute of Health and Environment (IHE) was established in 1966 to improve scientific knowledge and to promote practice on pubic health. Steering committee along with a director and an associate director are responsible for the operation of IHE. Currently, IHE includes 7 research centers and 1 research group with a total of 21 Research Professor and 47 full-time researchers(As of September 2024). 

IHE has been partnering with Graduate School of Public Health, to conduct a wide range of studies on public health and to improve the health of the people and environment. As a part of such efforts, IHE publishes an official journal, Korean Journal of Public Health, since 1964, and also has organized numbers of academic meetings and colloquium on public health topics of emerging importance.

We aim to serve as a platform for public health research where people can work and to communicate to render our society healthier and more sustainable. We do our best to face and tackle challenges of the changing environment, and to present healthier world to our future generations. 

Center for Health and Environment Information

Health and environment information refers to a wide range of data on environmental hazards generated by human activities and their impacts on health. Such information plays an important role in understanding the relationship between environmental factors and health outcomes, including air pollution such as particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone, and climate change related factors such as heatwaves, changes in infectious disease vectors, and increases in greenhouse gases.
The Center for Health and Environment Information at the Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University collects environmental hazard data alongside health indicators reflecting disease burden, such as the number of patients and deaths by environmentally related diseases, as well as region specific environmental and health data, and manages them in an integrated manner. Based on these efforts, the Center aims to identify the epidemiological relationships between environmental factors, human health, and ecosystems, and to minimize health risks arising from environmental exposures in advance. Furthermore, it seeks to support policy development, research, and the protection of public health by providing reliable environmental health information.

Center for Aging and Health

In the context of rapid population aging and changing social structures, promoting healthy aging and building sustainable care systems have become critical societal challenges. The Center conducts research on healthy ageing, function and autonomy, community-based integrated care, long-term care, and health-care system innovation. In particular, the Center focuses on integrated approaches linking health care, care services, and social services, as well as the design of person-centered health and care systems using data, digital technologies, and AI. Through collaboration with domestic and international research and policy networks, the Center aims to contribute to the development of evidence-based policies and practical strategies for responding to a super-aged society. The Center is also committed to advancing research methods–including qualitative approaches and participatory evaluation tools-for the study of neighborhood- and city-level health assets and healthy settings, while actively promoting domestic and international collaborative networks. Furthermore, the Center supports the planning of Healthy City initiatives and Health Impact Assessments for metropolitan and local governments, laying the foundation for urban health research.

Center for Economic Evaluation

Resource scarcity in health care delivery and environmental programs, like other sectors of a country’s economy, is a fairly common phenomenon globally. The situation is no different in countries in Asia. Policymakers and stakeholders in health care and environmental protection are increasingly interested in the application of the findings of economic evaluations, as one of several tools, to consider the costs and outcomes associated with a given program. The Center for Economic Evaluation (CEE/SNU) of the School of Public Health of Seoul National University was established to perform or help to perform various assessments of the economic aspects of health programs and environmental issues. During the allocation of scarce resources, it is important to pursue good value for money. Through research and training programs, the ultimate goal of CEE/SNU is to help the health and environmental sectors of Korea and other Asian countries to accomplish the rational allocation of available resources.

Center for Environmental Health Risk Assessment

The aims of our center are to perform research on environments and ecosystems, to elucidate various factors associated with human health, and to minimize the human health risk factors in our society. Considering that current environmental issues cover the broad and complex range of topics related to the environment, our centers apply a multi-disciplinary approach to solve these problems. The main topics are various physical, chemical, and biological hazards in both the natural environment and in occupational settings. The specific research topics in our center include air pollution and climate change, environmental health microbiology, environmental chemistry, environmental toxicology, the indoor environment and exposure assessment, biomonitoring, environmental medicine, and occupational health.

Center for Global Health Research

The Global Health Research Center’s mission is to promote health and reduce health inequity globally. Research for generating evidence, and human resource development and training are its main activities to achieve this mission. Particularly, it implements actions based on evidence and theories in the fields of health systems, health financing, disease control and health promotion and environmental health, with the support of its global networks. Also, it interacts with various organizations, groups, and researchers and plays a national leadership role in global health research and training.

SNU Microbiome Center

For research into human diseases, microbiome information – alongside human genomic data – is essential for identifying, understanding, and managing diseases in the era of personalized medicine, while from a public health perspective, it provides broader insights into nutrition, disease prevention, and health management. In this context, SNU Microbiome Center serves as a leading hub for generating and sharing comprehensive knowledge in these areas. Recent advances across public health, biology, medicine, statistics, and computer science – particularly in next-generation sequencing, microbial resource management, and bioinformatics for large-scale data analysis – have greatly expanded the scope and potential of microbiome research. As the importance of the microbiome continues to grow, this field is uncovering previously unexplored knowledge and providing a valuable foundation for innovative analytical technologies. The primary goal of SNU Microbiome Center is to advance basic and applied research on the microbiome and its relevance to public health. As a national-level research center, it will strengthen its core research functions while expanding its role as an education and information center by offering multidisciplinary programs, promoting industry–academia collaboration, and providing resources such as the Korean Microbiome DB and related analytical pipelines and solutions.

Population Policy Research Center

The Population Policy Research Center (PPRC) conducts research that describes, interprets, and analyzes social phenomena through the lens of the three fundamental demographic components: fertility, mortality, and migration. Drawing on expertise across demography, public health, family studies, statistics, and geography, PPRC pursues interdisciplinary research that goes beyond merely observing or forecasting demographic trends. We aim to design evidence-based and strategically grounded solutions for a more sustainable and hopeful future, while providing actionable recommendations to academia, government, industry, and the broader public.