Ji Bang was born in Seoul, South Korea and at the age of eight, she and her family moved to London, England. She was admitted to the prestigious Westminster School where she excelled in the sciences. She attended University College London and graduated with a degree in pharmacology. With the ambition to become the first physician in her family, she enrolled at University College London Medical School and after her graduation in 2009, she attended Imperial College London to earn a Master’s of Public Health degree focusing on cervical cancer screening. In 2010, Ji chose to make the transition to the United States and joined the Internal Medicine program at UAB. While at UAB, Ji has built an impressive resume. She quickly became established as a dedicated researcher and was awarded the Young Investigator Travel Award for the American Pancreatic Association in 2011 and the distinguished TIME-R (Trainees in Internal Medicine Mentored Experience in Research) Award in 2012.
She worked closely with Dr. Shyam Varadarajulu, Dr. Jessica Trevino, and Dr. Mel Wilcox and her research focused on advanced endoscopy in gastroenterology. During her time at UAB she has authored 23 publications, which include original articles, review articles, abstracts, and case reports.
In addition to Ji’s stellar clinical and academic accomplishments, she quickly became known at UAB for her bubbly personality, positive attitude, and dedicated work ethic. Despite not knowing a single person on arrival to Birmingham, Ji has developed life-long friendships which are what she has most enjoyed about UAB.
In July 2013, Ji will move to Indianapolis where she begins a fellowship in gastroenterology at Indiana University. She will seek to pursue a career in advanced endoscopy with special interest in endoscopic ultrasound.