April 2012

2.Summary of Proposal(Compile in English within 3 pages.)
Host institution

Osaka University

Head of host institution Toshio Hirano, Osaka University, President
Research center

Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center

Center director

Shizuo Akira, Osaka University, Professor (WPI IFReC)

Chief center-project
Shizuo Akira, Osaka University, Professor (WPI IFReC)
officer (in October 2007)
IFReC aims to advance imaging and bioinformatic technologies by integratingthem into experimental immunology for spatio-temporal studies from themolecular to the whole body level. This approach will provide comprehensive
understanding of the immune system. Such advancement of basic
Project summary
immunology will improve medical strategies for diagnosis and treatment ofpathogens and immune-related diseases through translational research. We
shall further improve the research administration system so that domestic andoverseas researchers can devote themselves to their research.
IFReC aims to comprehensively understand immune dynamism. To thisultimate goal, we shall integrate imaging and bioinformatic technologies withexperimental biology in order to study a wide range of spatio-temporalphenomena from the molecular to the whole body level. We believe thisintegrated approach will not only deepen our systematic understanding of theimmune system but will also facilitate the basic research results to be targeted
Mission statement
and/or center’s identity to medical applications through translational research. Thus, advancement in
our understanding of basic immunology can improve medical strategies for the
body’s defense against infectious diseases, cancers, diagnosis and treatmentof immune-related diseases. Through these endeavors, we shall establish asolid foundation for IFReC to be a truly internationally renowned research
center.
Fields: Immunology, Bioengineering and Bioinformatics
Importance: Research into the immunological response to pathogens isimportant in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various immune-relateddisorders and diseases. Despite extensive as well as intensive studies, it still
remains unclear how immune cells actually interact with each other in vivo.
Thus, it is of great and immediate importance to develop new technologies that
can track as well as artificially control immune responses. Toward this end, it isnecessary to make a breakthrough in traditional immunology by integrating
Research fields
imaging and informatics methodologies into immunology. Immunology at Osaka
University is internationally acclaimed in its highest quality in addition to being
recognized globally as among the foremost institutions regarding imaging andbioinformatics. Therefore, it is most pertinent to create an immunology research
center here where domestic and overseas researchers in those different
disciplines can come together to earnestly work towards a "comprehensive
understanding of immune mechanisms in vivo". This challenge to establish not
only a new field of basic science but also overcome various immune-relateddiseases is of upmost importance.
Integrating imaging technology and bioinformatics into immunology for acomprehensive understanding of immune dynamism, which enables controllingResearch objectives
immune system for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of immune
diseases.
The Center Director makes major decisions, to which the Administrative
Director gives full support by handling practical matters via the administrative
office. Important matters such as the annual budget and the appointment of
PIs are to be approved by the center management committee and the board of
Outline of management representatives.
The administrative office consists of the accounting and general affairs
sections, and the research planning and management (RPM) office. The former
two are composed of senior staff with rich administrative experience in theUniversity and English-speaking personnel. The RPM office consists of several
PhD holders and English-speaking personnel to cover publication, organizationof seminars and symposia, outreach activities etc. The Liaison Office within theframework of RPM supports researchers from abroad in various aspects suchas immigration matters, grant applications, etc.
IFReC is now composed of 27 research groups (immunology, 17; imaging, 7;
bioinformatics, 3), of which 15 are headed by full-time PIs and 12 by PIs who
have concurrent positions at the graduate schools, the Research Institute forMicrobial Diseases (RIMD), of Osaka University, etc. As cooperative
Researchers and other institutions, IFReC has concluded academic cooperation agreements with thecenter staffs, satellites, Research Center for Allergy and Immunology (RIKEN), the Institute for Frontier
Medical Sciences (Kyoto University) and the National Institute of Biomedical
partner institutions
Innovation (NIBIO). Overseas partner institutions include Institute for Systems
Biology (USA), Pohang University of Science and Technology (Korea), Indian
Institute of Science Education and Research (India), the University of Auckland(New Zealand) and the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital.

Administrative director

Takao Kodama, Osaka University, Professor (WPI IFReC)

1) The RPM office (“Outline of management”) deals with planning and logistics
of scientific meetings, outreach activities, etc.
2) About two thirds of IFReC laboratories are housed in the Integrated Life
Science Bldg., constructed in 2009 and the neighboring IFReC Research
Bldg., constructed in 2011.
3) Animal resource centers, radio-isotope experimental station and the core
instrumentation facility are jointly operated by IFReC and RIMD. A list ofcore equipment, facilities and operational manuals will be available online inboth English and Japanese.
4) The Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNeT) of the National
Institute of Information and Communications Technology and RIKEN
Quantitative Biology Center (QBiC) are scheduled to open within walking
distance from IFReC. Both centers are headed by Professor Yanagida, a
Deputy Director of IFReC. Their methodologies and technologies arecommon to those of IFReC, collaborations with these centers will help IFReC
to advance interdisciplinary researches.
5) Budget for equipment will be allocated to invite PIs from institutions outside
Outline of research
Osaka University. Budgets for consumables and supplies will also be
environment
provided to new PIs to start research at maximum efficiency without losingtime.
6) Based on advice and/or suggestions by the working group of the WPI
program committee and the International Advisory/Review Board, the center
director will set up a research environment appropriate for a WPI center.
7) International research conferences will be organized at least once a year.
8) IFReC has introduced platforms for collaboration of immunologists withimaging and bioinformatics researchers as follows:- The “Research Support Program for Fusion of Different Fields” (2009) toprovide IFReC’s young researchers in different disciplines with the financial
supports to start collaborative studies. They have been succeeded by the
double mentor fellowship/scholarship program (2011) to support graduate
students or young post-doctoral fellows engaged in interdisciplinary projects
under supervision by two PIs in different disciplines.
- The IFReC colloquia have been established to facilitate mutual interactions
between IFReC researchers by giving opportunities to young researchers topresent their innovative research topics.
i) Criteria and methods to be used by IFReC for evaluating the center’s global
standinga) Major contributions to main research areas - Are PIs leading andOutline of indicators foradvancing main research areas and corresponding fields?
evaluating a center’sb) Creation of new research areas - Are PIs opening or creating new research
global standing
areas and corresponding fields?
c) Contribution to human welfare - Are there any accomplishments from thiscenter which have made great contributions to increases of quality of（Host institution：Osaka University Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）2

Securing researchfunding
Appropriations plan
(Exchange Rate: JPY/USD=80)

human life in various ways, such as developing therapeutic or diagnostic
means?
ii) Results of current assessment made using said criteria and methodsa) Major contributions to main research areas:
Immunology: Akira, innate immunity; Sakaguchi, regulatory T cells;
Kurosaki, differentiation of lymphocytes; Kishimoto, cytokines.
Bio-imaging: Yanagida, single molecule imaging; Yoshioka, MRI imaging;
Smith, Raman microscopy; Kikuchi, chemical imaging.
b) Creation of new research areas:
Saito, single molecule imaging analysis of immune responses;
Kumanogoh, immune regulation by semaphorins; M. Ishii, two-photon
imaging of bone tissues in vivo.
c) Contribution to human welfare:
Kishimoto, anti-IL-6 receptor therapy for inflammatory diseases; Hatazawa,
integrated PET/MRI system as diagnostic means for various diseases;
Coban, Malaria immunology; K. Ishii, vaccine science.
iii) Goals to be achieved through the project (at time of final evaluation)- To establish methodologies of intravital and noninvasive imaging of immune
cells and immune-related molecules and those of systems biology forunderstanding of the immune network.
- To open a new vista for controlling immune system for the prevention,
diagnosis and treatment of immune diseases
Osaka University will provide support to meet the necessary expense, on topof Grant-in-aid (about 13.5 hundred million yen/year) and Research Grants for
Principal Investigators.
FY2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Cost
16.68
($ millions）

16.68 16.68 16.68 16.68 83.4

1) As stated in its mid-term strategic target and plan, Osaka University will
provide every possible support for IFReC to become a true WPI center.
2) The University has entitled the IFReC Director to manage and operate thecenter and to make decisions regarding substantive personnel and budget
allocation as are the Deans and Directors in other faculties in the University.
Thus, the Director can make top-down decisions and reformation ofproject-oriented improvements of research environments.
3) Osaka University will make every effort to support IFReC so it can establish
its foundation to become a WPI center by providing available resources thatwould be either greater or equal to the WPI project grant.
4) If researchers from other departments in the University are working
concurrently at IFReC, the University will support resource sharing/exchange
between the WPI and the other departments.
Summaryofhost 5) The existing annual salary employment system of Osaka University is
institution’s commitment applied to IFReC employees. If, however, the system does not fit in well withthe operation of IFReC as a WPI center, the university will consider revising its
present internal system for IFReC’s operation.
6) Concerning the planning and logistics of running large-scale research
projects, research staff at the Support Office for Large-Scale Education andResearch Projects will collaborate with IFReC staff. The Office for International
Planning and Programs will support IFReC to promote research collaborations
with scholars and institutions overseas.
7) To facilitate interdisciplinary researches at IFReC, the University will makenecessary arrangements for IFReC researchers to collaborate with those of
CiNeT and QBiC (See “Outline of research environment).
8) Osaka University has established the Gender Equality Promotion Office toprovide career support and encouragement for young scholars who will be
next-generation researchers, which will be beneficial for IFReC to increase
the number of female PIs and junior researchers.

（Host institution：Osaka University Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）3

April 2012

3．Research Center Project
Host institution
Head of host institution(in English)

Osaka University

Toshio Hirano, Osaka University, President

Research center

Immunology Frontier Research Center

Center director

Shizuo Akira, Osaka University, Professor (WPI IFReC)

Chief center-project
officer(in October 2007)

Shizuo Akira, Osaka University, Professor (WPI IFReC)
・Briefly describe the general plan of the project.

We aim to unveil the whole picture of the dynamic immune system byintegrating the methodologies of bio-imaging and bioinformatics into
immunology. Thus, we shall make every effort to improve thesemethodologies to track more directly the behavior and communications of
immune cells within live animals and to understand their collective orsystematic behavior in response to non-self, such as pathogens andcancers. Based on these basic studies, we shall seek to develop new
strategies for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various
immune-related disorders and diseases. To this ultimate goal, we shallestablish the Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center(IFReC) consisting of 25 - 30 world-class principal investigators together
with domestic and overseas institutions that will function as satellites orpartners. A research-supporting and administrative system will beestablished to provide a research environment of international standards
where all of IFReC researchers can devote themselves to research.

Project summary

Major changes from initial project plan:- In our initial plan, bioinformatics was not emphasized. Over the first four
years, a consensus has emerged within the organization that cutting-edge
computational methods are indispensable to advance immunology andfacilitate collaboration between immunology and imaging groups. This isreflected as a change made in the plan.

- The research planning and management office has been establishedwithin the administrative office to cover a wide range of research supporting
logistics to build a superb environment where all of IFReC researchers candevote themselves to research.
・Briefly and clearly describe the mission statement and/or the project’s identity as WPIcenter.

IFReC aims to comprehensively understand immune dynamism. To thisend, we shall integrate imaging and bioinformatics technologies withexperimental biology in order to reveal spatio-temporal and/or the collective
behavior of immune-related cells and molecules in vivo. This integrated
approach will not only deepens our systematic understanding of theimmune system but also facilitate basic research results to be targeted toMission statement
medical applications through translational research. Thus, advancement in
and/or center’s identity
our understanding of basic immunology improves medical strategies for the
body’s defense against infectious diseases and cancers, and diagnosis andtreatment of immune-related diseases.
Along with these research efforts, we shall further improve the researchadministration system, which provides a research environment ofinternational standard, where both domestic and overseas researchers candevote themselves to research.
Through these endeavors, we shall establish the solid foundation for
IFReC to be a truly internationally renowned research center.
(1) Research fields
・Describe in simple words and phrases within one line the research field of the project.

Immunology and Bioengineering
・ Choose relevant fields from among ① － ⑦ below, specifying the interdisciplinary field(s) that the projectaddresses.
①Biosciences, ②Chemistry, ③Material sciences, ④Electronics engineering and information sciences,⑤Precision and mechanical engineering, ⑥Physics, ⑦Mathematics①Biosciences, ④Electronics engineering and information sciences, ⑤Precision and mechanicalengineering
・Describe the importance of the proposed research, including domestic and international R&D trends in the field andJapan’s advantages.

Research on the immune system, which is composed of cells, tissues and organs to defend the bodyagainst invading microbial pathogens, is of fundamental importance in prevention, diagnosis andtreatment of various immune-related disorders and diseases. Although numerous studies havefocused on the identification of immune cells and their factors, it still remains unclear how they actuallyinteract with each other in vivo in response to infections or in pathological conditions. Thus, it is ofgreat and immediate importance to challenge such unsolved issues. Toward this end, it is necessary
to develop new technologies that track immune responses, methods to artificially control immune
responses by integrating imaging and informatics methodologies into immunology. This is nothing
short of an attempt to make a breakthrough in traditional immunology. Immunology in Osaka
University is internationally acclaimed in its highest quality. In addition, the University is also globally
recognized as being among the foremost institutions regarding imaging and bioinformatics. Therefore,
it is most pertinent to create a new research center for immunology in Osaka University where
domestic and overseas researchers in those different disciplines come together to earnestly aim toachieve a "comprehensive understanding of immune mechanisms in vivo".
・If centers in similar fields already exist in Japan or overseas, please list them.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA(2) Research objectives
・Describe in a clear and easy-to-understand manner the research objectives that the project seeks to achieve by the（Host institution：Osaka University

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Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）end of the grant period. In describing the objectives, the following should be articulated in an easily understandable
manner: What new domains are expected to be pioneered by fusing the target fields. In the process, whatworld-level scientific issues are sought to be resolved. What is the expected impact of the scientific advances to beachieved on society in the future.

We aim to Integrate imaging technology and bioinformatics into immunology to study the properties
and functions of immune-related cells and molecules for a comprehensive understanding of immune
dynamism. To date, research in immunology has been carried out mostly using in vitro methods,
wherein immune cells are isolated from animals such as mice and individually examined using various
methods of cell biology; similarly, immune-related molecules have traditionally been examined inisolation by biochemical and/or biophysical methods to reveal structure-function relationships. As aresult of such studies, a number of immune cells and cytokines have been discovered, and signaling
pathways in various immune responses have been outlined.
However, the immune system of a mouse or human is one composed of a large number of multiple
cell types forming a complex network. Many of these cell types interact directly or indirectly throughintermediary molecules such as cytokines. In addition, immune cells are generally in constant motion
throughout the entire body interacting with many types of tissue. We will reveal the dynamics of thiscellular and molecular network through the integration of biological, biochemical, and imaging datausing information technology and complex systems simulations. This challenging endeavor is ofimportance not only to establish a new field of basic science but also to overcome various
immune-related diseases. Furthermore, such developments will establish a solid foundation of
medical immunology.
・Describe concretely the research plan to achieve these objectives.

<Research plan – General>
It is hardly possible to reach our ambitious goal of a “comprehensive understanding of immune
dynamism” using an in vitro approach alone. Our alternative strategy is to examine and analyze
immune cells and molecules in vivo as they naturally exist in a living organism. There already exist a
number of in vivo methods; however, they are not yet as mature as the in vitro-based methods. Hence,
one of our goals is to advance novel in vivo immunology methods. The first step in this process is toform fruitful collaborations between researchers with various theoretical and experimental
backgrounds, and with proven experience in solving major problems in immunology. The collaborative
spirit used to develop new in vivo methods is expected to generate not only breakthroughs inimmunology, but also to strengthen more basic disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and information
technology.
<Experimental and computational plans>
Well-armed with animal and instrumental facilities as described below (section 5), we will pursue:a) Selective visualization of multiple types of immune cells and molecules, hopefully simultaneous
visualization and/or with good temporal resolutionb) Non-invasive or at least side-effect free observation and measurements of cells and moleculesc) Measurement of cellular activities and dynamics of immune-related substances in whole live
animalsd) Development of tools and expertise for processing, storing, and extracting useful informationfrom large amounts of imaging and biological datae) Simulation and prediction of immune networks based on results obtained (as outlined above)
both at the molecular and cellular levels
Three lines of innovation that are essential for experimental research to attain objectives a–c (above)
are currently ongoing at IFReC:
i)
Improvement of techniques of optical microscopy: Attempts are being made to push theperformance of instruments to their limits by modifying the hardware and to visualize thedynamics of cells in live animals and molecules in cells by using novel probes or reagents.
ii) Development of probes suitable for “selective visualization of specific cells or molecules and to
discriminate them from an ensemble of similar targets” and“detection of structural changes of
immune-related molecules and organelles”.
iii) Installment of cutting-edge instruments such as a Raman microscope and an advanced 11.7T
MRI for minimally-invasive observations and measurements. These instruments will becustomized in hardware and software for improvement of their performance by experienced
researchers, so as to optimize the technologies for immunology-based research purposes（Host institution：Osaka University

3

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）and/or experimental subjects.
In addition to on-going projects in bioinformatics groups (structure/function prediction of proteins
involved in immune responses; simulation of signal transduction cascades and transcriptional
regulatory network in immune cells; and advanced data processing for imaging), we have set two
objectives for information processing and systems-oriented studies:i)
Improvement of computational facilities for the flow and availability of data from the imaging,
informatics and immunology groups;ii) Reinforcement of human resources of computational research both in qualitative andquantitative aspects.
<Plans for Medical Immunology through Translational research>
Since IFReC was launched in 2007, we have been well aware that the center is highly expected tocontribute to improvements in society’s health by clinical application of inventions/discoveries madethrough basic research. Hence, several IFReC PIs have been recruited from the medical school of the
University, and two of them have concurrent appointments with the University Hospital. Furthermore,
two new laboratories specialized in human immunology and immune diseases were set up in 2010(Coban, malaria immunology; Ishii, K., vaccine science).
In order to more aggressively accelerate clinically oriented research, IFReC will make several
practical steps:a) Support to on-going collaborative projects of IFReC researchers with clinical researchers at the
medical school of the University- Multimodal (CT/PET/MRI) morphological and functional imaging for diagnosis of various
diseases- Clinical application of a cancer vaccine and development of new biologics to treat
autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis in collaboration with pharmaceuticalcompanies.
b) Support collaborations with other institutions- Development of strategies to control chronic inflammatory diseases through revealing how
dendritic cell subsets exert their immunostimulatory functions (RIKEN RCAI)- Development of stem cell-based immunotherapy including mesenchymal stem cells andintestinal stem-like cells that could ameliorate inflammatory bowel diseases by preferentiallyinhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines. (Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital and
POSTECH)In addition to supporting these on-going or scheduled projects, IFReC encourages their researchers
to set up new projects with clear prospects for medical immunology. To construct a better platform for
this, IFReC is now preparing to:c) Establish a consortium for clinical medicine-oriented immunology composed of PIs belonging to
the medical school of the University as its core members. This is to invite clinicians who areinterested in deeper investigation of clinical samples which are routinely collected during thetreatment of patients suffering from immune–related diseases. Plans include:- Opening a clinical sample collection center in the IFReC research building for researchers to
use the collected samples. Using the samples, research projects will be scheduled to searchfor bio-markers of immunological disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, juvenile
idiopathic arthritis, and polymyositis/Dermatomyositis and to analyze the proteins or gene
expression of immune-regulatory molecules of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of suchpatients to find therapeutic targets.
- Discussion forums for clinical immunology research; participants include clinicians from local
hospitals as well as IFReC researchers.
d) Propose a joint project search for therapeutic molecular targets for immunological disorders andcancers for the Health Labour Sciences Research Grants in collaboration with NIBIO.

（Host institution：Osaka University

4

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）(3) Managementi) Center director
・Provide the name of the center director, his/her age (as of 1 April 2012), , specialties, and brief career profile(within 5lines).

Name; Shizuo Akira
Age; 59
Specialties; Immunology
Profile; Ph. D., Osaka University, Graduate School of Medicine (1984)
Associate Professor, Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Osaka University (1995)
Professor, Hyogo College of Medicine (1996-1999)
Professor, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University (1999-present)
Center director, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University (2007-present)ii) Administrative director
・Provide the name of the administrative director, his/her age (as of 1 April 2012),
profile(within 5 lines).

andhis/her brief career

Name; Takao Kodama
Age; 70
Profile; Ph.D., Nagoya University, Graduate School of Science (1970)
Associate Professor, Okayama University School of Dentistry (1981-1992)
Professor, Kyushu Institute of Technology (1992-2005)
Research Manager, Japan Science and Technology Agency (2005-2008)
Administrative director, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University (2009-present)iii) Composition of administrative staff
・Concretely describe how the administrative staff is organized.

Dr Takao Kodama, who has a long career of scientific research as well as experience in research
management and coordination, is in charge of the overall administration system of IFReC. The system
is composed of three sections: the accounting section, the general affairs section and the researchplanning and management (RPM) office. Each of the former two sections is staffed withEnglish-speaking personnel supervised by two senior staff with rich administrative experience in the
University. The RPM office is headed by Dr Kodama, consisting of six PhD holders and several
English-speaking personnel. The office is to make a research environment with smoothcommunication among researchers and support staff and close contact with the Administration
Bureau of Osaka University by covering:(a) Organization of seminars and symposia(b) Outreach activities(c) Management of matters related to intellectual properties such as material transfer actions
and management of matters relating to the health and safety at IFReC(d) Preparation of a database of information on external competitive research funds in English foroverseas researchers’ convenience. For each of these tasks, a person with a PhD has been
assigned(e) Purchase procedures for instrumentationiv) Decision-making system
・Concretely describe the center’s decision-making system.

The center Director makes major decisions, to which the Administrative Director gives full support byacting as a coordinator among the deputy directors and by executing management actions through thereformed administrative office. The Administrative Director also acts as liaison between the director
and trustees of the host institute and between IFReC and the MEXT/JSPS WPI office. Importantmatters such as annual budget and the appointment of PIs, or equivalent, are to be approved by thecenter management committee and the board of representatives.
（Host institution：Osaka University

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Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）v) Allocation of authority between the center director and the host institution’s side
・Concretely describe how authority is allocated between the center director and the host institution’s side.

The University president will approve the mid-to-long term plan of the center and the center director’s
decisions on major issues necessary for the center’s management, such as researchers’ salaries,
appointment of new researchers and administrative director. The University president will appoint a
director, determine the director’s salary and evaluate the center’s performance. In addition, theCenter’s Director, Deputy Directors, Administrative Director and Trustees and Vice Presidents of the
University hold briefings as needed.
(4) Researchers and other center staffs, satellites, partner institutionsi) The “core” to be established within the host institutiona) Principal Investigators (full professors, associate professors or other researchers of comparable
standing)
Numbers
Final goal
At beginning
At end of FY 2011
(Date: March, 2017)

Researchers from within
the host institution
Foreign researchers invitedfrom abroad
Researchers invited from otherJapanese institutions
Total principal investigators

10

14

15

1

2

3

6

11

12

17

27

30

・Describe the concrete plan to achieve final staffing goal, including steps and timetables.
・Attach a list of principal investigators using the Appendix. Place an asterisk (*) by names of the investigators
considered to be ranked among the world’s top researchers. Describe the policy and strategy for inviting thePIs who are to be included after 1 April 2012.

b) Total members
Numbers
Final goal

At beginning

At end of FY 2011

Researchers49< 12, 24%>

Principal investigators

17< 1, 6%>

Other researchers32< 11, 34%>
28
9

173
< 53, 31%>
[ 35, 20%]27
< 6, 22%>[ 1, 4%]146< 47, 32%>
[ 34, 23%]
61
29

180
< 61, 34%>
[ 38, 21%]30
< 8, 27%>[ 3, 10%]150< 53, 35%>
[ 35, 23%]
50
30

86

263

260

Research support staffs
Administrative staffs
Total number of people who form
the “core” of the research center(Date: March, 2017)

・Enter the total number of people in the columns above. In the “Researchers” column, put the number andpercentage of overseas researchers in the < > brackets and the number and percentage of female researchers in
the [ ] brackets.
・Enter matters warranting special mention, such as concrete plans for achieving the Center’s goals, establishedschedules for employing the main researchers, particularly principal investigators.

To increase the number of female principal investigators, IFReC is to:（Host institution：Osaka University

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Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）--Invite more female speakers to IFReC-organized scientific meetings.
Make and use a reservoir of female talented young researchers of international level, exploiting
the fact that a number of young female students and post-doctoral fellows participated in theWinter School held in January, 2012, who had been selected among many contesting
applicants (see page 9, Hold international research conferences).
More aggressively publicize the University’s support systems for gender equality in planningand promotion ((5). Research environment ○ Other measures to ensure that top-caliber
researchers from around), which would be effective to terms of recruitment.

ii) Collaboration with other institutions
・If the “core” forms linkages with other institutions, domestic and/or foreign, by establishing satellite functions, Provide
the name of the partner institution(s), and describe the role of the satellite functions, personnel composition andstructure, and collaborative framework between the host institution and the said partner institutions (e.g., contracts
to be concluded, scheme for resource transfer).

Domestic- RIKEN Research Center for Allergy and Immunology- Kyoto University, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences- The National Institute of Biomedical Innovation
・If some of the principal investigators will be stationed at satellites, attach a list of these principal investigators and thename of their satellite organizations using the Appendix.

Not applicable・If the “core” forms organic linkages with other institutions, domestic and/or foreign, without establishing satellite
functions, provide the names of the partner institutions and describe their roles and linkages within the center
project.

Domestic
None
Overseas- Institute for Systems Biology (Alan Aderem, Director) Seattle, USA- Pohang University of Science and Technology (Inhwan Hwang, Chairman, Division of Life
Science & Division of Integrative Bioscience and Biotechnology), Pohang, Korea- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Vinod K Singh, Director), Bhopal, India- The University of Auckland (P. Rod Dunbar, Director, Maurice Wilkins Center), Auckland, New
Zealand- The Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital (Tae-Kon Hwang. President). Seoul,
Korea
Researchers in the center and these satellite/partner institutions will visit each other and exchange
the information to upgrade the scientific standard of both sides. These interactions will provide anenvironment for the training of young immunologists and facilitate integration of different scientificdisciplines.
(５) Research Environment
・Concretely describe measures to be taken to satisfy each of the requirements outlined below, including steps andtimetables.

○ Provide an environment in which researchers can devote themselves exclusively totheir research, by exempting them from other duties and providing them with adequate staff
support to handle paperwork and other administrative functions.
As described above (3), the Research Planning and Management office headed by the
Administrative Director deals with planning and logistics of scientific meetings, public information andliaison, and issues relating to intellectual properties, etc. Several PhD holders with researchexperience and bilingual staff have been posted. Together with general affairs and accounting
sections, this office fully supports researchers so that they do not have to spend their time on paper
work and other administrative functions.
（Host institution：Osaka University

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Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）○ Provide startup research funding as necessary to ensure that top-caliber researchers invited
to the center do not upon arrival lose momentum in vigorously pursuing their work out ofconcern over the need to apply immediately for competitive grants.
Each PI from abroad is allocated a start-up research fund for the first three years from the WPI’s
direct budget. To newly recruited PIs from domestic institutions, some amount of the fund is also given
as a “set-up research fund”. In order to facilitate a new era of immunology as well as making
breakthroughs in related scientific disciplines, “The Research Support Program for Fusion of Different
Fields” is available to young researchers. The program is to encourage them to challenge new but
difficult project tasks, for which it would be otherwise hard to obtain financial support from outside
sources. Start-up budgets (3 million yen per year for 3 years) are provided for each project. The
projects are annually reviewed by IFReC PIs in a hearing open to all IFReC researchers.
○ As a rule, fill postdoctoral positions through open international solicitations.
In principle, postdocs will be hired through advertisement of positions in major journals, such as
Nature and Immunity, and the IFReC web-page.
○ Establish English as the primary language for work-related communication, and appoint
administrative personnel who can facilitate the use of English in the work process.
It is one of the IFReC’s administration policies that at least two thirds of the total staff be bilingual,using English as the primary working language. In addition, there exists the Liaison Office as a virtualorganization within the framework of the RPM office to support researchers from abroad in various
aspects such as immigration matters, providing a living support service as well as bilingual notices,announcements and helping with grant applications.
○ Adopt a rigorous system for evaluating research and a system of merit-based compensation.
(For example, institute a merit-based annual salary system primarily for researchers fromoutside the host institution. As a basic rule, the salaries of researchers who were already
employed at the host institution prior to the centers’ establishment are to be paid by the hostinstitution.)
The director will organize the International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) consisting ofinternationally renowned scientists in the fields of immunology, bio-imaging and bioinformatics. The
Board will conduct an evaluation of the research groups’ performance every other year. The center’s
Director will use the ISAB evaluation as reference material to determine PIs’ salaries and their contract
renewal.
Concerning the procedure for evaluation of other staff, standardized forms have been createdspecific to the position of the staff. Three forms have been generated to evaluate 1) the Specially
Appointed Associate Professor/Assistant Professor/Lecturer; 2) Specially Appointed Researcher; and3) the Technician/Administrative staff. Points of evaluation range from the work performance and otherareas such as: the involvement in the laboratory; research management; achievements;
application/acquisition of external funds; progress in combined research projects; and contribution to
the WPI program. Points are relative to the staff’s position. The evaluation data will be used as
reference material to determine staff salaries and their contract renewal.
○ Provide equipment and facilities, including laboratory space, appropriate to a top world-levelresearch center.
About 50% of the space of the Integrated Life Science Building (ten-storey, 9,258 m2) constructed in2009 are allocated for the use of IFReC. Located next to this building is the IFReC animal resource
center (four-storey, 2482 m2; 5000 cages for 25,000 SPF mice, constructed in 2009) and the IFReC
research building (nine-storey, 6,592 m2, constructed in 2011). The close proximity of these buildings
will facilitate the interactions of IFReC researchers of various fields with each other, and further
promote their collaborative research.
The facilities including the radio-isotope experimental station, core instrument facility and three
animal resource centers that are distributed between both IFReC and the Research Institute ofMicrobial Diseases and made available to all members of both institutes. In order to better organize
and manage these facilities, an associate professor and a few technicians are posted.
In addition, cutting-edge instruments such as a Raman microscope and an advanced 11.7T MRI for
minimally-invasive observations and measurements have been installed at the expense of the（Host institution：Osaka University

8

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）AKIRA project from the Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D of Science andTechnology budget. These instrument’s hardware and software have been customized byexperienced researchers to improve their performance so as to optimize the technologies for
immunology-based research purposes and/or experimental subjects. Although use of appropriate
probes would be sometimes required, we can expect to be able to track certain immune cells at thewhole animal level (it is already possible at the tissue level) or molecules in a cell, and/or to directly
measure cellular composition in immune cells.
A full list of all core equipment and facilities will be made available online to all members of staff in
English and Japanese. All operational manuals will also be available in both Japanese and English.
○ Hold international research conferences or symposiums regularly (at least once a year) tobring the world’s leading researchers together at the center.
IFReC will organize international research conferences, workshops or symposia at least once a year.
In addition, to provide a new educational and networking venue for young researchers all over theworld, IFReC and SIgN have reached an agreement to jointly organize a Winter School on Advanced
Immunology every year. The school will be held annually, with the location alternating between Japanand Singapore.
○ Other measures to ensure that top-caliber researchers from around the world can comfortably
devote themselves to their research in a competitive international environment, if any.
Osaka University has established the Gender Equality Promotion Office to provide career supportand encouragement for young scholars who will be next-generation researchers through the following:- Implementation of a Research Supporter System to support female researchers who are having
difficulty in securing time for research due to child birth, child-rearing, or nursing-care. This
support is practiced by the University’s Human Resource Bank that employs individuals who are
studying at or have graduated from a graduate school in the same field and deploys these
individuals as research assistants to researchers.
- Sharing information about research on gender equality through setting up a research network
connecting in-campus faculty, staff at gender equality program divisions in local communities,
gender equality promotion offices in companies and gender equality promotion offices at
research institutions and universities throughout Japan.
The activities of this office will be expected to be beneficial for IFReC to increase the number offemale PIs and junior researchers.
Referring to advice and suggestions given every year by the WPI working group and the programcommittee, the executive board of IFReC consisting of the center Director, Deputy Directors andAdministrative Director make plans to improve the research environment for both domestic andoverseas researchers.
(6) Indicators for evaluating a center’s global standing
・Describe concretely the following points.

i) Criteria and methods to be used for evaluating the center’s global standing in the subject field(a) Major contributions to main research areas: Are principal investigators of IFReC leading andadvancing main research areas as major players in their respective fields?
(b) Creation of new research areas: Are principal investigators of IFReC opening or creating new
research areas in the corresponding fields?
(c) Contribution to human welfare: Are there any accomplishments from this center, which havemade great contributions to increase the quality of human life in various ways such as developing
therapeutic or diagnostic means of diseases?
ii) Results of current assessment made using said criteria and methods(a) Major contributions to main research areas:
Principal investigators of IFReC have been leading main research areas of the immunology field(Akira in research of innate immunity; Sakaguchi in research of regulatory T cells; Kishimoto in
research of cytokines), which is obvious from the enormous number of citations of their papers.
Yanagida is also a pioneer of the single molecule imaging. In addition to these original PIs, most of
the PIs appointed from April 2008 onward can be regarded as leading researchers in theirrespective fields.
（Host institution：Osaka University

9

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）(b) Creation of new research areas:
The collaboration of immunology groups with imaging and bioinformatics groups has gradually
started to visualize the movement of molecules or cells they are dealing with, and to analyze thevast data obtained from microarray experiments and whole genome sequencing since IFReC waslaunched four years ago. To systematically enhance such collaborations, as a WPI center we
introduced the “Research Support Program for Fusion of Different Fields” (2009). A total of 15
projects have been supported, a few of which have already been jointly published by different
research groups and some others have reached the stage ready for publication. The program will
be succeeded by the “Double Mentor Program” which is to encourage PhD students and young
post-docs to engage in research projects jointly planned by senior researchers in different
disciplines.
(c) Contribution to human welfare:
The development of an Anti-IL-6 receptor therapy for inflammatory diseases based on basic
research by Kishimoto has been used in clinical practice and proved very effective. Hatazawa is a
specialist of nuclear medicine and responsible for diagnostic imaging at the University Hospital. He
has been developing an integrated PET/MRI system, which is to create a new fusion ofmorphological and functional imaging. This technology is expected to become a powerful
diagnostic means for various diseases. We understand the importance of reinforcing the lines thatallow for basic research to be translated in to that which may be of benefit to human welfare. Inview of this, we recruited C. Coban (2010) and K. Ishii (2010) as PIs, who are specialists of Malaria
immunology and vaccine science, respectively. We believe that their creative interaction with other
IFReC members will make a great step forward and contribution to human welfare.
iii) Goals to be achieved through the project (at time of final evaluation)(a) To establish methodologies to quantitatively examine structural, spatial and temporal propertiesof immune cells and molecules in vivo.
(b) To simulate the dynamics of immune network systems, both at the cellular and whole body level,by combining the data thus obtained in order to present new paradigms for understanding theimmune network.
(c) To open a new vista for clinical immunology through translational development of the basic
research results.
(7) Securing research funding
Future prospects
・ Describe the concrete prospects for securing resources that match or exceed the project grant.
・ Calculate the total amount of research funding (e.g., competitive funding) based on the percentage of time theresearchers devote to research activities at the center vis-à-vis the total time they spend conducting research
activities. Be sure the prospects are realistically based on the past record.

We have mainly obtained the following budgets other than WPI budgets in FY2011 and expect nearly
the same amount will also be ensured after FY2012 onwards.
1) Competitive Research Grants obtained by researchers: 1.82 billion yen
2) Personnel expenses provided by management expenses grant of Osaka University to employ
researchers who have concurrent positions at IFReC and other department in the university: 217
million yen
3) Personnel expenses financed by Kishimoto Foundation Fellowships/Scholarships: 50 million yen
Others・ Describe activities and initiatives to be taken after project funding ends.

One possible initiative will be the integration of IFReC and Osaka University International ResearchCenter for Infectious Diseases (IRCID). Since IRCID is currently operating as a research center
focusing on infectious diseases, it will functionally complement IFReC. Meanwhile IFReC hasestablished good partnership with the Research Institute of Microbial Diseases (RIMD), the parent
body of both centers, through the sharing of research facilities such as animal resource centers, theradio-isotope experimental station and the core instrumentation facility. Thus the new organization is
expected to be capable of systematically conducting a wide range of research from basic to applied,such as molecular details in immune responses to vaccine development.
As described in “5. Host Institution’s Commitment”, Osaka university has concluded collaborative
agreements with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology（NICT）and（Host institution：Osaka University

10

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）with Riken. Based on these agreements, two research centers, the Center for Information and Neural
Networks (CiNeT) of NICT and the Quantitative Biology Center (QBiC) of RIKEN have been opened
near IFReC. Professor Yanagida, an IFRec Deputy Director, has been appointed as the director ofboth centers. Technologies and methodologies of both centers are rather similar to those of IFReC, so
collaborations with these centers will be made in due course and helping IFReC to advanceinterdisciplinary research necessary for initiating a new era of immunology. If both institutions function
together closely and systematically with the IFReC/RIMD complex, an integrated life science center ofglobal significance and presence could be established at Osaka University.
・ Describe expected ripple effects （e.g., how the research center project will have trailblazing components that canbe referred to by other departments in the host institution and/or other research institutions when attempting to build
their own top world-level research centers）.

If the collaboration of IFReC with CiNeT and QBiC is successful in integration of immunology with
cutting edge-technologies of bio-imaging and bioinformatics, momentum would rise in researchers ofother bioscience-related departments of Osaka University, as the University is among the foremost
institutions regarding cutting-edge technologies including Raman spectroscopy, electron microscopy,
atomic force microscopy, etc.
・ Describe other important measures to be taken in creating a world premier international research center, if any.

As it is obvious that the whole environment should be favorable for IFReC to become a WPI center,in particular, for integration of different research fields, we are expecting the University to make theeffort to:(a) Support world class research development at CiNeT and QBiC(b) Facilitate industry-academia collaboration by research teams at the Techno Alliance center toproduce outcomes that meet social expectations（Host institution：Osaka University

11

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）5．Host Institution’s Commitment (in English)
Date

January 30, 2012

To MEXTName of host institution: Osaka University
Name and title of head of host institution: Toshio Hirano, President
Signature

I confirm that the measures listed below will be taken faithfully regarding “Osaka University
Immunology Frontier Research Center” adopted under the World Premier International Research Center
Initiative.
＜Provision in host institution’s mid-to-long-term plan＞
・Describe clearly the host institution’s mid-to-long-term strategy plan and how the center is positioned within thatstrategy.

In the Osaka University Medium-Term Plan for the 1st period (1st MTP, FY2004 - FY2009), it wasstated that the research objective of the University is "to support development in science and industrial
technology and flexibly handle research subjects of great urgency, such as applied and advanced
research for human society and culture of the 21st century", which was in line with what the hostinstitution of a WPI center should commit.
During the latter half of the 1st MTP, IFReC was actually selected as one of five WPI research centersand started its operation. In the Medium-Term Plan for the 2nd period (FY2010 - FY2015), theresearch objective has been further developed "to promote the world's top class research, advanceknowledge in various research fields by fully utilizing the capacities of different research organizationsof the university, and promote interdisciplinary research by establishing an innovation hub that
supports both basic and applied research". This statement is a clear indication of the University’s
strong awareness of the reasons under which IFReC was selected, and its objective as a WPI center.
＜Concrete Measures＞
・Describe the concrete measures that the host institution will take to satisfy the following requirements.

(1) How it will support the center’s need to secure resources that match or exceed the project grantthrough such means as competitive grants obtained by researchers participating in the project,in-kind contributions and other forms of assistance by the host institution ( including partial
payment of salaries, provision of research space), and/or external donations.
During the initial period between FY2007 and FY2010, Osaka University supported IFReC in
establishing its foundation to become a WPI center by providing available resources that would beeither greater or equal to the WPI project grant including:1) Allocation of all indirect costs of the WPI budget to be at the disposal of IFReC for the initial
setting-up
2) Construction of the Integrated Life Science (ILS) building (10-sroried, 9,258 m2 of space) to
provide laboratory space of real international standard for the core PIs of IFREC (2009)
3) Finance support of construction of the IFReC Animal Resource Center for SPF animals (4-storied,
2,482 m2 of space with 5,000cages for 25,000 mice)4) Provision of a tenured position to invite professor Sakaguchi from Kyoto University, who is anindispensable PI for IFReC to become a world-leading institution of immunology5) Eligibility of IFReC researchers to apply intra-university competitive research funds
6) Assignment of two administrative staff employed by the university budget
Along with these existing measures, Osaka University will continue to make every effort to support
IFReC securing resources that match or exceed the WPI budget.
(2) How it will institute a system under which the center’s director is able to make substantive
personnel and budget allocation decisions necessary to implementing the center project—asystem, which in practice, allows the center director autonomy in making decisions regarding thecenter’s operation.

The University has entitled the Center Director to manage and operate the center by making
decisions regarding substantive personnel and budget allocation. However, important matters such as
annual budget and appointment of PIs are to be approved at the Center Management Committee andthe Board of Representatives. The Administrative Director is authorized to give full support to the
Director by acting as a coordinator among the Center Director and Deputy Directors and executing
management actions through the reformed administrative office. Thus, the director can literally maketop-down decisions and reformation of research environments so that IFReC PIs can devote
themselves to research.
(3) The support it will provide to the center director in coordinating with other departments within thehost institution when recruiting researchers for the center, while giving reasonable regard to theeducational and research activities of those departments.
When a researcher from a different department in Osaka University joins the WPI as a full time
researcher, Osaka University will support the replacement by indirect research expenses and/or otherexpenses. If a researcher at other departments in Osaka University is working concurrently at thecenter, he or she will be exempted from educational work. Osaka University will support resource
sharing/exchange between the WPI and other departments.
(4) Its flexibility in applying, revising, or supplementing the host institution’s internal systems asneeded for the center to effectively implement new management methods (e.g.,
English-language environment, merit-based pay, top-down decision making) unfettered byconventional modes of operation.
To maintain the excellent research environment as a WPI center, IFReC will apply the existing
employment system of Osaka University, including the annual salary system. If the present employee
system of Osaka University does not fit in with the operation of the Center, then Osaka University willconsider revising and supplementing the present internal system of Osaka University. The new systemshould be flexibly operated. Osaka University will support the WPI’s enforcement to endorse thesystem and its operation as follows:
1) IFReC will ensure that the retirement allowance to be paid to the hired researcher is based on the
total years of service to the Center and other institutions.
2) The housing of international visiting professors will be arranged by IFReC so there is no need to
pay neither the security deposit nor key money.
3) To hire exceptional researchers, salaries can be changed from the existing system depending on
their ability.
4) Linguistically able English speaking administrative staff will be hired from both inside and outside
the University, with on-the-job training after employment.
The aforementioned items will undergo examination as necessary by related departments of Osaka
University.
As for housing of international visiting professors and researchers, accommodation of international
standards (Kasugaoka House) was constructed in 2010. Here, several IFReC researchers and theirfamilies currently reside (part of the rent is subsidized from the WPI budget).
In addition, Osaka University established the Support Office for Large-Scale Education and Research
Projects (LSERP) and the Office for International Planning and Programs (IPP) in 2009 and 2010,
respectively. LSERP is to improve support systems for obtaining large-scale education and research
projects for Osaka University, in order to fortify the planning and strategic functions for such projects.
Several personnel with research experience together with PhD and bilingual staff have been recruited
to the administrative office of LSERP.
One of the goals of IPP is to promote research collaborations with scholars and institutions overseas
and to share the research results for the benefit of the global society, which is almost exactly what is
mentioned in the WPI program, and hence beneficial to IFReC.
(5) Its accommodation of the center’s infrastructural requirements (for facilities, e.g., laboratory
space; equipment; land, etc.).
As described above (1), the University constructed the ILS building in 2009 to provide 11 IFReC PIs
sufficient spaces to set up their laboratories. Next to this building, construction of a new IFReC
research building (nine-storey, 6592m2) was completed in March 2011, where 9 IFReC laboratories
moved into. This makes it possible for all of the full-time researchers of IFReC to assemble together.
（Host institution：Osaka University

2

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）The University-supported the construction of the IFReC animal resource center (1), which together
with two animal resource centers of the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, has made it possible
for IFReC to use these centers for different experimental purposes.
The University has also made necessary arrangements for IFReC researchers to use equipment inother faculties.
(6) Other types of assistance it will provide to give maximum support to the center in achieving its
concepts and objectives and becoming a world premier international research center in both nameand deed.
The Support Office for International Students and Scholars, Osaka University (the Support Office),
which was first established in 2007 within the International Student Affair Division, at Department ofInternational Affairs, and then reformed as the present office in 2009, offers various types of assistancefor international students and scholars and their families before and after their arrival in Japan. The
primary goal of the Support Office is to help make the life of international students and scholars easierand more comfortable in Japan, the very existence and activity of the Support Office are quite
beneficial to IFReC, since overseas researchers, now exceeding 30% of the total researchers, canconcentrate fully on their academic activities throughout the duration of their stay in Japan.
The University also established the Gender Equality Promotion Office in 2010 to provide career
support and encouragement for young scholars who will be next-generation researchers. This officewill support IFReC to increase the number of female researchers, female PIs in particular.
Furthermore, the University concluded research collaboration agreements with NICT, (2009) and
RIKEN (2010). Based on these agreements, QBiC of RIKEN started its operation in the University
campus in 2011 and the research building of CiNeT is under construction in walking distance from
IFReC. Both centers are headed by Yanagida, a Deputy Director of IFReC. The main focus at CiNeT istechnological innovation for direct imaging of cellular activities, metabolism and systems analysis ofcellular networks in the brain, while quantitative and comprehensive studies are performed toaccurately predict and control complex biological phenomena at QBiC. Collaborations with thesecenters will be made in due course, helping IFReC to advance interdisciplinary researches necessary
for open a new era of immunology.

（Host institution：Osaka University

3

Title of Center Project：Immunology Frontier Research Center ）（Appendix）(in English)

List of Principal Investigators
・If the number of principal investigators exceeds 10, add columns as appropriate.
・Place an asterisk(*) by the name of the investigators who are considered to be ranked among the world’s top
researchers.
・Give age as of 1 April 2012.
・For investigators who cannot participate in the center project from 1 April 2012, indicate the time that their
participation will start in the “Notes” column.

Name

Age

Current affiliation(organization,
department) andspecialties

Academic
degreeNotes

WPI Immunology Frontier

1

Shizuo Akira*59 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD
University (Immunology)

2

3

WPI Immunology Frontier

Tadamitsu
Kishimoto*72 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD

MasayukiMiyasaka*

64 Medicine, Osaka

Hitoshi Kikutani*

61 Microbial Diseases, Osaka MD, PhD

University (Immunology)
Graduate School of

MD, PhD

University (Immunology)
Research Institute for

4

University (Immunology)

5

Taroh Kinoshita*

WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka
60 University (Immunology, PhD
Biochemistry)6

Atsushi
Kumanogoh*

Graduate School of
45 Medicine, Osaka
University (Immunology)

7

Kiyoshi Takeda*

45 Medicine, Osaka

MD, PhD

Graduate School of

MD, PhD

University (Immunology)
WPI Immunology Frontier

8

Hisashi Arase*

46 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD
University (Immunology)

9

ShimonSakaguchi*

WPI Immunology Frontier

61 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD
University (Immunology)（Host institution：Osaka University

1

Abbreviation of the Center：IFReC ）（Appendix）
RIKEN Research Center

10

Takashi Saito*

61 for Allergy and

PhD

Immunology (Immunology)

11

Tomohiro
Kurosaki*

WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka
56 University (Immunology MD, PhD
and Molecular Biology)

12

Fritz Melchers*

75 (Immunology)

PhD

13

Toshio Yanagida*

Graduate School of
Frontier Biosciences,
65 Osaka University(Molecular Imaging)

PhD

14

Yoshichika
Yoshioka*

58 Research Center, Osaka DSc

15

Yutaka Hata*

Graudate School ofEngineering, University of
PhD
50 Hyogo (Computer
Engineering)

16

Daron M. Standley

44 Research Center, Osaka PhD

Max Planck Fellow

WPI Immunology Frontier
University (Biophysics)

WPI Immunology Frontier
University (Chemistry)Jun Hatazawa*

Graduate School of
Medicine, Osaka
58 University (Nuclear
Medicine)

18

Jang Myoung Ho

WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka
43 University (Mucosal
PhD
Immunology)

19

Masaru Ishii

38 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD

17

MD, PhDWPI Immunology Frontier
University (Bioimaging)

20

Kazuya Kikuchi

Graduate School ofEngineering, Osaka
46 University (Chemical
Biology)21

Diego MirandaSaavedra

WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka
36 University (Molecular and PhD
Cellular Biology)

Cevayir Coban

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

22

PhD

（Host institution：Osaka University

2

Abbreviation of the Center：IFReC ）（Appendix）
Nicholas IsaacSmith

WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka
37 University (Applied
PhD
Physics)24

Ken Ishii*

National Institute of
Biomedical Innovation
43 (Immunology, Vaccine
Science)25

Tsuneyasu
Kaisho*52 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD

26

Kazuhiro Suzuki

WPI Immunology Frontier
Research Center, Osaka
36 University (Immune Cell MD, PhD
Dynamics)

27

Rikinari Hanayama

37 Research Center, Osaka MD, PhD

23

MD, PhDWPI Immunology Frontier
University (Immunology)

WPI Immunology Frontier
University (Cell Biology)（Host institution：Osaka University

3

Abbreviation of the Center：IFReC ）