Progress Plan for Maintaining Academy Center Certification
World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI)
Host Institution

Osaka University

Research Center

Immunology Frontier Research Center

Host Institution HeadNISHIO Shojiro

Center Director

TAKEDA Kiyoshi

Administrative Director
Please prepare this Progress plan based on your application for WPI Academy. Summarize the Center’s future plans with regard to thefollowing 8 items within five A-4 pages. (Also fill out the appendices at the end of this form.)

1. Overall Image of Your Center* Describe the Center’s overall image including its identity.

Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) conducts interdisciplinary research inimmunology, imaging, and informatics and has produced world-class research results. Its achievements
are highly regarded and have led to comprehensive collaboration agreements with Chugai PharmaceuticalCo., Ltd. and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for 10 years starting in April 2017. In the collaborations,
IFReC researchers are guaranteed the freedom to pursue curiosity-driven basic research, and by disclosing
their latest research results directly to the companies, they are able to smoothly conduct joint research
activities. Therefore, through the agreements, IFReC has secured a financial base for its operation in placeof WPI funding. A number of joint research projects based on the basic research results of IFReC beganfrom the comprehensive cooperation. In July 2019, Dr. TAKEDA Kiyoshi succeeded Dr. AKIRA Shizuo as
director. Under his strong leadership, the new director has set a goal of contributing to society throughthe results of IFReC's basic research based on the current industry-academia collaboration system, in
addition to promoting interdisciplinary research. In order to contribute to society, the director has set thefollowing policies for the next five years.
Promotion of human immunology
IFReC promotes human immunology, which studies the human immune system related to humandiseases, by purchasing and upgrading instruments for common use and establishing an organized support
system.
Nurture of the next generation of researchers
A generational change will be promoted under the new director. IFReC supports the international
circulation of young postdoctoral researchers, and established a Young Lead Researcher (YLR) system, inwhich promising young researchers are appointed as PIs. For young PIs including YLRs, IFReC continues
to provide competitive research funding to foster them into core IFReC researchers. Furthermore, IFReC
requires senior PIs to actively contribute as mentors to the development of next-generation researchers.
Internationalization
Strengthening collaboration with leading overseas research institutions is necessary to ensure diversity
in research and to cultivate new research fields, and will also strengthen the function of the center as a
hub for the international circulation of young researchers. In particular, IFReC enhances its collaboration
with ImmunoSensation at the University of Bonn in Germany and University College London (UCL) in the
United Kingdom, a Global Knowledge Partner of Osaka University, by conducting ongoing researchexchanges, such as holding regular joint symposiums.
*Because of the global pandemic of COVID-19, the international circulation of young researchers and theoutreach activities are expected to be greatly reduced in FY2020.

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Immunology Frontier Research Center2. Mid- to Long-term Research Objectives and Strategies* Describe new challenges in the Center’s research objectives and plans after FY 2020.
* Describe your future research strategy and plans and research organization including your line-up of Principal Investigators, and youroutlook for fostering and securing the next generation of researchers.

Challenges for human immunology
Through the use of genetic manipulation and molecular biological techniques, immunology has, to date,elucidated the immune mechanisms of animal models with homogeneous genetic backgrounds. However,in practice, humans and animal models (mice) have different immune mechanisms. Human immunology
aims to comprehensively understand the human immune system involved in human diseases, and is theultimate goal of the current research at IFReC. In particular, it is essential to understand the diversity of
individuals, which has been excluded in conventional studies using animal models, and a major
breakthrough in current immunology is required. The understanding of the human immune system will
provide a basis for elucidating the mechanism of disease and developing methods to control it. Therefore,
it is a challenging endeavor with a possibility of extremely high social impact that has the potential topositively transform human life. Since human immunology research requires a substantial amount of facility
investment, the accumulation of advanced technologies, and the establishment of a support system tooperate them, IFReC needs to deal with these in an organized manner. Advancing human immunology isa significant challenge for IFReC in order to maintain and further improve world-class research standards
in the future.
Human immunology requires multifaceted analysis, including genomic and gene expression analysis,
which are different from conventional analytic methods. When conducting research on human subjects,
genetic manipulations as used in animal models are not permitted. Moreover, the samples collected during
the course of diagnosis and treatment and available for research is limited to a very small amount. These
have hindered the progress of immunology with human subjects. However, innovative advances in genetic
analysis and single cell analysis technologies have made it possible to analyze even very small amounts ofsamples. Recent advances in informatics have made it possible to analyze a variety of immune functions,
thereby creating an environment for human immunology research. In addition, in collaboration with thePIs concurrently affiliated with Osaka University Hospital, IFReC has access to rare human samples, which
can be utilized at IFReC. Since the established research methods for animal models are also effective, thecurrent research using animal models will be further promoted, and the results will be fed back to humanimmunology.
In order to enhance research capabilities for this new challenge of promoting human immunology, it isimportant to stimulate academic exchange with leading overseas research institutes and to promote theinternational circulation of researchers.

3. Management System of the Research Organization* Describe the system of organizational management via which the Center will execute the above-described research strategy and plans.
* In Appendix 1-3, list the Principal Investigators, enter the number of Center personnel (researchers, research-support staff, andadministrative staff), and provide a diagram of the Center’s organizational management system.

In order to implement the research strategy described above and to improve IFReC's researchcapabilities over the long-term, the following efforts will be made.
Nurture and utilization of young researchers
IFReC has added 10 PIs in the last three years and now has of a total of 34 research groups. IFReC
promotes the international circulation of young researchers by continuing the Advanced Postdoc and otherprograms. Three to five associate professor-level researchers will be appointed as Young Lead Researchers(YLRs), and each of them will run an independent research group as PIs of IFReC. An open laboratory
with all the necessary equipment will be set up and shared by multiple YLRs so that the YLRs can start
their research immediately after taking up their positions. Competitive research funds (7 million yen peryear for 3 years) will be provided through the Grant Program for Next Generation PIs. Senior researchers
will also serve as mentors and contribute to their development. In addition, the Human Immunology Lab
plays a central role in training graduate students and young postdoctoral researchers to acquire cuttingedge technologies, such as single cell analysis, so that they can advance fundamental research in humanimmunology.
Promotion of human immunology
A working group was established to formulate a policy for promoting research in human immunology,
set up instruments for common use, and create an organizational management system. In FY2020, IFReC

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Immunology Frontier Research Centerwill add more servers to enhance informatics research and begin to provide IFReC researchers withfinancial support for using this state-of-the-art technology. IFReC will also strengthen ethical compliancefor handling human samples including information management, establish measurement and analysis
methods by standardizing protocols, and construct IFReC's original single immune cell database bycollecting data for effective utilization. Since it is especially necessary to enhance informatics in order topromote human immunology, it is essential to develop and recruit human resources in this field throughcollaboration with leading overseas research institutions and through the international circulation of young
researchers.
Promotion of industry-academia collaboration relevant to comprehensive collaborationagreement
Within the framework of comprehensive cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, IFReC promotes
world-class basic research and the application of research results utilizing the strengths of the companies.
This comprehensive cooperation provides the financial base for the stable operation of IFReC. In order tomaintain this, it is important to strongly promote human immunology as basic research that contributes
to society and to produce excellent research achievements.
Enhancement of research support system
In addition to the research management to date, industry-academia collaboration and intellectual
property management, which are becoming increasingly complicated and sophisticated, and information
management and research support to promote human immunology will be required. IFReC is also planningto strengthen its public relations and outreach activities to promote international cooperation andinternational circulation of young researchers. IFReC continues to nurture and utilize professional research
management personnel with capabilities in various fields and to further enhance its support system.

4. Plan for Promoting the International Circulation of World’s Best Brains* Describe your policy and concrete plan for promoting the international circulation of the world’s best brains, which is an importantfunction of the WPI Academy.

The international circulation of young researchers will greatly contribute to the improvement of researchcapabilities by the revitalization of IFReC research and ensuring diversity. Since the success of young
researchers at IFReC will attract more internationally active young researchers to IFReC, IFReC promotes
continuous international circulation of the young researchers from a long-term perspective.
Promotion of international brain circulation of young researchers
IFReC supports young researchers in their overseas research activities through the Program forInternational Circulation of Young Talented Researchers and promotes the recruitment of excellent young
researchers both in Japan and overseas through the Advanced Postdoc Program, which provides up to 1.3
times the salary of a regular postdoc and 3 million yen per year in research funds. IFReC continues toorganize the Winter School, which is highly regarded as a place to build a network of outstanding nextgeneration researchers. As it has become difficult for the Singapore Immunology Network to continue toco-host the Winter School, IFReC will continue to host the school either independently or with a newpartner institution.
Collaboration with leading overseas research institutions
In order to strengthen existing fields, to cultivate new fields, and to promote the international circulationof young researchers, IFReC promotes cooperation with leading overseas institutions having excellent
technical and research capabilities. IFReC promotes individual joint research and the mutual exchange of
researchers by holding regular joint symposia, in particular with ImmunoSensation at the University ofBonn since FY2018, and with University College London (UCL), one of the Global Knowledge Partners ofOsaka University. The international research network cultivated at IFReC will be further developed andutilized for the development of research.

5. Plan for Disseminating the WPI Program Achievements* Describe your policy and concrete plan for disseminating WPI center achievements both within the host institution and to otheruniversities, especially their experience and know-how accumulated on establishing top world research institute and advancing system
reforms.

Dissemination outside Osaka University
IFReC continues to actively disseminate its efforts to support foreign researchers, to recruit talented
researchers, and to manage industry-academia collaboration including comprehensive collaboration

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Immunology Frontier Research Centeroutside Osaka University. IFReC plays a central role in organizing events with other institutions and WPIcenters to expand the target audience and reach out to new audiences.
Dissemination to Osaka University
Osaka University is planning to establish an international research center for quantum information andquantum life science at the International Advanced Research Institute, which IFReC belongs to, and set
up an office in preparation to establish the center. In order to make this center an internationally renowned
research center comparable to IFReC, the experience and know-how at IFReC will be applied.
IFReC is making efforts for advanced industry-academia collaboration including comprehensive
cooperation and has accumulated operational know-how. By sharing know-how with the Co-Creation
Bureau of Osaka University, IFReC helps to develop new comprehensive collaboration agreements and toadvance industry-academia collaboration. IFReC also cooperates with the Co-Creation Bureau by sharing
know-how regarding fundraising activities. IFReC has so far prepared a considerable amount of materials
to support international researchers. IFReC provides these materials for use at the other departments forthe international students and researchers. Osaka University has established a university-wide network ofuniversity research administrators (URA). Research management personnel belonging to the Research
Planning and Management Office of IFReC collaborates with them to disseminate experiences and knowhow at IFReC with regard to outreach or research promotion to the other departments.

6. Plan for Sustaining the WPI Brand* Describe your plan for sustaining and enhancing the WPI brand.

Enhancement international public relations and outreach activities
IFReC will continue its activities to disseminate research results to researchers in Japan and abroad,such as at international symposia. With the aim of promoting the international circulation of young
researchers, IFReC diversifies its outreach methods to target young researchers such as by enhancing
activities abroad to directly access the international research community, using English-Japanese websites
and SNS, and posting its main webpages in multiple languages. The activities will be validated andimproved using the number of applications to the Advanced Postdoc and Winter School as an indicator.
Outreach to high school and university students
IFReC will actively work to raise the awareness of IFReC among high school and university students whowill be responsible for the future of science. In addition to providing opportunities to interact directly withstudents, outreach activities to create and publish on-demand content through the Internet and to createconnections with teachers, who are the influencers closest to high school students, will be planned.
Branding for WPI
The joint WPI outreach activities were limited to WPI-led events. IFReC will lead the joint outreachactivities with other WPI centers and develop voluntary activities to emphasize the WPI brand.
Promotion of fundraising activities
IFReC continues to conduct outreach activities for the general public. IFReC promotes fundraising
activities where the public's understanding at the outreach activities is developed into support as tangible
donations. IFReC aims to gain supporters for its activities over the long-term through validation andimprovement of its activities using the number and amount of donations as indicators.

7. Support by Host Institution* Describe measures that the host institution is and will take to support and sustain your Center.

Osaka University has requested IFReC to continue as a world-leading research center in Japan under
the WPI philosophy, to take on the challenge of creating new fields while inheriting the fine tradition of
immunology at Osaka University, and to make advanced efforts to improve the research environment, andto internationalize and enhance industry-academia collaboration in order to influence the otherdepartments of the university. To this end, Osaka University welcomes the strong leadership of the director
in the management of IFReC and provides the following support.
Support for human resource
Osaka University continues to implement measures such as the allocation of tenured posts (twoprofessors, two associate professors, and two assistant professors) and the preferential allocation ofbilingual administrative staff. The shortage of tenured positions has made it difficult to hire new faculty forthe core of IFReC. Most of the faculty and staff at IFReC are employed for a fixed-term. Because of the

Osaka University - 4
Immunology Frontier Research Centerrevised labor Contract Act Law enacted in 2013, many experienced technical and administrative staff havealready left IFReC, and many middle and senior researchers will be forced to leave in FY2023. This outflow
of capable human resources is a serious problem for IFReC. Osaka University has requested the relevant
ministries and agencies to take measures to prevent this and considers a flexible approach to theemployment terms of fixed-term faculty and staff.
Financial support
In the comprehensive collaboration agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., the entire budget
for all indirect costs that was allocated to the head office was specially allocated back to IFReC, and theentire amount received (1 billion yen/year) was made available to IFReC. This has continued to date.
Support for international collaboration
Osaka University promotes international collaboration by using grants established by Osaka University
for international conferences and international joint research. In particular, Osaka University has taken thelead in promoting collaboration with UCL as a Global Knowledge Partner.
Support for industry-academia collaboration
At IFReC, the number of joint research agreements and patent applications as a result of thecomprehensive cooperation has been increasing, and is expected to further increase in the future.
Therefore, industry-academia collaboration is becoming more complex and sophisticated, and the CoCreation Bureau plans to continue to provide sufficient support.

8. Resource Allocation Plan

* Describe your plans over a 5-year period for allocating resources acquired from the host institution (e.g., financial resources andpositions) and from external research funding to use in carrying out the Center’s functions and activities described above.
* In Appendix 4, enter concrete numbers in the Resource Allocation Plan.

IFReC anticipates the following resource measures. For the time being, IFReC is expected to operate ina stable manner with grants from the comprehensive collaboration agreements. However, because it isnecessary to use the grants to produce research results that are paid for by the grants, there may be cases
where it is inappropriate to use part of the grants for purposes that should be handled by the university,
such as educational activities, contributing to society in a broad sense, and promoting internationalization,and for purposes featuring WPI, such as research support, public relations, and outreach activities. In orderfor IFReC to continue to fulfill its mission as a WPI Academy center and contribute to society, continuous
financial support from the host institution, Osaka University, and MEXT is very important.
Industry-academia collaboration
In addition to the grants received under the comprehensive collaboration agreements, the amount ofresearch grants received under the joint research agreements is expected to increase. However, with regard
to securing the management of IFReC in the future, it is necessary to sufficiently consider the continuation
or restructuring of the comprehensive cooperation, the support from the host organization, and thediversification of financial resources of IFReC.
Host institution
Osaka University will continue the current tenured positions and financial support and will continue toconsider increasing the number of tenured positions in the future. Osaka University supports the promotionof international cooperation by providing grants for international conferences and joint research.
External research grants
Because IFReC researchers need to obtain their own research funding as in the other WPI centers, it isimportant to obtain external funding for research. In particular, IFReC facilitates the acquisition of large
external funding, led by IFReC researchers, to promote human immunology.
WPI Academy (Program to Accelerate and Expand International Circulation of Young
Researcher)
Using the WPI Academy grants, IFReC enhances cooperation with leading overseas institutions and theinternational circulation of young researchers to raise IFReC's visibility and brand and to improve researchcapabilities.
The Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research Universities
Research management personnel have been employed through the program expense budget since
FY2017. Since this program is scheduled to end in FY2022, it is desirable that a budget to cover theemployment costs of the personnel be secured through public funds or the support of the host institution
in order for IFReC to continue its activities as a WPI Academy center.

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Immunology Frontier Research CenterAppendix 1

List of Principal Investigators   If the number of principal investigators exceeds 10, add columns as appropriate.
   Give age as of 1 April 2020   For investigators who will not participate in the Center project at the time of submission of this Progress Plan, indicate the timethat their participation will start in the “Notes” column.
Effort(%)*(Notes)Enter "new" or"ongoing"

53

Director and Professor, WPI Immunology
MD, PhD
Frontier
Research Center, and, Graduate School of (Immunology)
Medicine, Osaka University

100

ongoing

67

Professor, WPI Immunology Frontier MD, PhD
Research Center, Osaka University(Immunology)

15

ongoing

3 KUROSAKI Tomohiro

64

Deputy Director and Professor,
Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka University

WPI MD, PhD(Immunology andmolecular biology)

80

ongoing

4 ARASE Hisashi

54

Deputy Director and Professor,
Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka University

WPI

MD, PhD(Immunology)

40

ongoing

53

Professor, Graduate School of Medicine,
WPI
MD, PhD(Immunology)
Immunology Frontier Research Center,
Osaka University

25

ongoing

51

Professor The Institute of Medical
Science, The University of Tokyo
MD, PhD
Professor,
Guest
Professor
WPI (Immunology,
Immunology Frontier Research Center, Vaccine Science)
Osaka University

5

ongoing

47

Professor, The Institute of Medical MD
Science, The University of Tokyo, Guest (Clinical
Professor WPI Immunology Frontier Microbiology
Research Center, Osaka University
specialty)

2

ongoing

8 SUZUKI Kazuhiro

44

Professor, WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka University

MD, PhD(Immune cell
dynamics)

90

ongoing

9 YAMAMOTO Masahiro

41

Professor, Research Institute for Microbial
PhD
Diseases, WPI Immunology Frontier(Immunology)
Research Center,Osaka University

45

ongoing

47

NICT Invited Executive Researcher and
PhD (NeurologicalWellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical
Science)
Fellow (Cambridge University)

10

ongoing

66

Professor, Research Center for Nuclear
Physics,
Guest
Professor
WPI MD, PhD
Immunology Frontier Research Center, (Nuclear Medicine)
Osaka University

5

ongoing

12 KIKUCHI Kazuya

54

Professor,
Graduate
Schoolof
PhD(Chemical
Engineering, WPI Immunology Frontier
Biology)
Research Center, Osaka University

10

ongoing

13 ISHII Masaru

46

Professor, Graduate School of Frontier
MD, PhD
Biosciences, WPI Immunology Frontier(Bioimaging)Research Center,Osaka University

10

ongoing

Name

Age

Center director

1

TAKEDA Kiyoshi

2 AKIRA Shizuo

5 KUMANOGOH Atsushi

6 ISHII Ken J.

7 Cevayir COBAN

10BenjaminJohn SEYMOUR

11 HATAZAWA Jun

Affiliation(Position title, department, organization)

Academic degree,
Specialty

Nicholas Isaac
14
SMITH

45

15 Daron M.STANDLEY

52

16 NAGATA Shigekazu

70

17 KINOSHITA Taroh

68

18 SAKAGUCHI Shimon

69

19 SAITO Takashi

Associate Professor, WPI Immunology
PhD Engineering/
Frontier
ResearchCenter,
Osaka
Applied Physics)
University
Professor, Research Institute for Microbial
PhD
Diseases, WPI Immunology Frontier(Bioinformatics)
Research Center, Osaka University
PhD
Professor, WPI Immunology Frontier(Molecular/Cell
Research Center, Osaka University
Biology)Endowed Chair Professor, Research
PhD
Institute for Microbial Diseases, WPI(Immunology,
Immunology Frontier Research Center,
Biochemistry)
Osaka University

100

ongoing15

ongoing80

ongoing70

ongoing

Professor, WPI Immunology Frontier MD, PhD
Research Center, Osaka University(Immunology)

70

ongoing69

Team leader, RIKEN, Research Center for
Integrative Medical Sciences, Professor, PhD
WPI Immunology Frontier Research (Immunology)
Center, Osaka University

10

ongoing

20 KIKUTANI Hitoshi

69

Professor, WPI Immunology Frontier MD, PhD
Research Center, Osaka University(Immunology)

100

ongoing

21 KISHIMOTO Tadamitsu

80

Professor, WPI Immunology Frontier MD, PhD
Research Center, Osaka University(Immunology)

80

ongoing

22 Fritz MELCHERS83

Max Planck Fellow

PhD(Immunology)

10

ongoing

23 YANAGIDA Toshio

73

Professor, Graduate School of Frontier PhD
Biosciences, WPI Immunology Frontier (Molecular
Research Center, Osaka University
Imaging)10

ongoing

24 OKADA Yukinori

39

Professor, Graduate School of Medicine,
MD, PhDWPI Immunology Frontier Research(Bioinformatics)
Center, Osaka University

5

ongoing

25 YAMASHITA Toshihide

55

Professor, Graduate School of Medicine, MD, PhD
WPI Immunology Frontier Research (NeurologicalCenter, Osaka University
Science)10

ongoing

26 NAGASAWA Takashi

58

Professor, Graduate School of Frontier
MD, PhD
Biosciences, WPI Immunology Frontier(Immunology)
Research Center, Osaka University

36

ongoing

27 YAMASAKI Sho

51

Deputy Director and Professor, WPI
Immunology Frontier Research Center, PhD
and Research Institute for Microbial (Immunology)
Diseases, Osaka University

80

ongoing

28 OKADA Masato

62

Professor, Research Institute for Microbial
Diseases, WPI Immunology Frontier PhD(Science)
Research Center, Osaka University

15

ongoing

29 HARA Eiji

55

Professor, Research Institute for Microbial
PhD(Molecular
Diseases, WPI Immunology Frontier
Biology)
Research Center, Osaka University

5

ongoing

30 TAKAKURA Nobuyuki

57

Professor, Research Institute for Microbial MD,PhD(Vascular
Diseases, WPI Immunology Frontier and
Stem
Cell
Research Center, Osaka University
Biology)15

ongoing

31 FUJIMOTO Manabu

53

Professor, Graduate School of Medicine,
MD.PhD.
WPI Immunology Frontier Research(Dermatology)
Center, Osaka University

15

ongoing32 MORO Kazuyo

43

Professor, Graduate School of Medicine,
MD.PhD.
WPI Immunology Frontier Research(Immunology)
Center, Osaka University

10

ongoing

33 James Badger WING

39

Associate Professor, WPI Immunology
Frontier
ResearchCenter,Osaka PhD. (Immunology)
University

100

ongoing

47

Associate Professor, WPI Immunology
PhD.
(HumanFrontier
ResearchCenter,Osaka
Immunology)
University

50

ongoing

34 OKUZAKI Daisuke*Percentage of time that the principal investigator will devote to his/her Academy center work vis-à-vis his/her total working hours.
Osaka University -1

Immunology Frontier Research CenterAppendix 3

Appendix 3

Diagram of Organizational Management System- Diagram separately the Center’s organizational management system and its position within the host institution in an easily understoodmanner. If you are planning to change your organization management system and/or its position within the host institution in or after FY
2020 compared to their description in Appendix 3-1 of Activities report, show the changes in the diagram.

1. The Center’s organizational management system

Osaka University -1

Immunology Frontier Research CenterAppendix 3

2. The position within the host institution

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Immunology Frontier Research Center