HHS National Institute of Health Director Meets with Scientists and Health Officials in Japan

October 27, 2006 - The Honorable Elias Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), traveled to Japan in mid-September 2006, to make presentations at scientific meetings, meet with leaders in Japanese biomedical and scientific research and discuss the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program (CMSP).

Dr. Zerhouni gave a plenary address at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum which took place from September 11- 13, 2006, in Kyoto, Japan, titled "A Vision for Transforming Medicine in the 21st Century." STS aims to provide a forum for open discussions on an informal basis, and to build a network of people that could, in time, resolve the types of problems that stem from the application of science and technology. Dr. Zerhouni also participated in the NIKKEI Science Symposium in Tokyo on September 13, 2006 where he delivered a talk entitled “The Future of Medical Science and its Impact on Our Times.”

While in Tokyo, Dr. Zerhouni met with Mr. Kazuki Okimura, President of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), to discuss JST’s major research programs such as Exploratory Research for Advance Technology (ERATO), Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) and Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (PREST).

During this trip, Dr. Zerhouni also met with Dr. Takehiko Suzuki, President of the International Medical Center of Japan (IMCJ), and Dr. Satoshi Kimura, former Director- General of the International Medical Center of Japan’s (IMCJ) AIDS Clinical Center. Dr. Satoshi is currently President of Tokyo Teishin Hospital. The U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program was one topic of discussion. Dr. Zerhouni and Dr. Suzuki discussed research on lifestyle diseases, particularly the diabetes research at the IMCJ, and the difficulties in funding and encouraging scientists to conduct such research in both countries.

He also met with Dr. Tatsuo Miyamura, Director-General of the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID),and Dr. Haruo Watanabe, Deputy Director-General of NIID and the Chair of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program (CMSP) Panel on Cholera and other Bacterial Infections.

Talking with Mr. Motoyuki Ono, President of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Dr. Zerhouni and Mr. Ono exchanged information on training programs on infectious diseases and research funding systems in universities. JSPS officials were interested in HHS/NIH's funding system for researchers and universities that allow researchers to move to another university and retain their research grants.

Last revised: November 20, 2007