University of Shizuoka GCOE – University of California Berkeley
Joint Conference

From June 13th to 14th 2008, the first joint conference with the University of California,
Berkeley was held at the University of Shizuoka. The conference was attended by threeprofessors from UC Berkeley: Dr. Robert S. Zucker of the Helen Wills Neuroscience
Institute and the Division of Neurobiology, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology;
Dr. Qiang Zhou of the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department ofMolecular and Cell Biology; and Dr. Gian Garriga of the Division of Genetics, Genomicsand Development, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. This conference wasrealized after four members of the University of Shizuoka Global COE program had
visited the University of California, The Ohio State University, and the University ofMedicine & Dentistry of New Jersey in September 2007, to promote collaborative
alliances with their graduate schools. The aims of the conference were 1) to inspire
University of Shizuoka graduate students in their research fields, and 2) to provide an
opportunity for the graduate students to improve their English communication skills bymeeting world-renowned scientists.

In Session 1, on June 13th, Dr. Garriga gave a lecture entitled “Wnt Signaling inC.elegans Neuronal Development”, Dr. Zhou presented on “’7SK: A Small Nuclear RNA
Regulator of Transcription, Cell Growth and Transformation”, and Dr. Zucker lecturedon“BiophysicalAnalysisofSynapticTransmission:

Short-term

Plasticity,

Neuromodulation, SNARE Interactions”. In Session 2, four University of Shizuoka
graduate students presented their research. This was an excellent opportunity for thestudents to have a question-and-answer session with these leading researchers. Afterthe first day of the conference, the guest professors, graduate students, and otherUniversity of Shizuoka young researchers had a mixer at the Miho-en Hotel. This is thefirst time that such an event was held by the university, offering young scientists achance to talk informally with such well-known scientists.

On June 14th, University of Shizuoka professors presented their work to the UC
Berkeley visitors. Dr. Hiroshi Noguchi of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Dr.
Hirokazu Kobayashi of the Laboratory of Plant Molecular Improvement, and Dr.
Takashi Suzuki of the Laboratory of Biochemistry lectured on “Generating an Array ofNovel Compounds by the Engineered Type III Polyketide Synthase”, “The Chloroplast:
Its Evolution and Adaptation”, and “Sulfatide Is Required for Efficient Replication of

Influenza A Virus” respectively. The presentation of each topic was followed by an active
discussion among the presenters and guest researchers. After the seminar, the guest
researchers visited laboratories in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences andthe Graduate School of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences for discussion withresearchers and students.

The joint conference produced an active and fruitful interaction between the senior andjunior researchers of the University of Shizuoka Global COE and the guest professors
from University of California Berkeley. The organizers of the conference would like toextend their gratitude to Dr. Robert S. Zucker, Dr. Qiang Zhou, and Dr. Gian Garriga forcoming to the University of Shizuoka.

(Written by Tetsuji Yamakawa, Satoko Nakai, and Philip Hawke)