ISSUE NO. 12 | ANNUAL 2020

LGS NEWS
NEWS LETTER OF LEADING GRADUATE SCHOOLAT CHIBA UNIVERSITYPROFILE

7TH YEAR LGS STUDENTS
EVENTSOVERSEAS TRAINING IN SAN DIEGOLEADING FORUM 2019
LGS WINTER CAMP 2020
STUDENT’S EXPERIENCEAMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY
61ST ANNUAL MEETINGMESSAGESGRADUATING LGS MEMBERS

Welcoming New Members

1On the 7th year of its cohort, the LGS welcomes six new members to the program.
Who are they and what are their expectations to the program?

Terunao Iwanaga

Department of Gastroenterology
Research Theme: currently under consideration
Message: Being an LGS member would be a great opportunity
for me. Since I have only clinical experiences as agastroenterologist, this is my first time to learn about the basic
medical science. I hope the experiences in the LGS program
would have a good influence on my research and the future life
as an MD-PhD.

Ishii Ayana

Department of Medical Immunology
Research Theme: Functional role of natural killer T cells intumor microenvironment
Message: To aim for innovative and feasible medicine, I hope
to do pioneering research. In the first year, I had many
chances to talk with foreign researchers in my field andexperienced researchers in other fields. All experiences wereexciting to me. I am proud of being an LGS member and will
give it everything I’ve got.

Wang Yangsong

Department of Immunology
Research Theme: Molecular mechanism under T cell mediatedimmunity against tumor
Message: I personally think that a driving force of society
development is curiosity. As a member of the LGS program, I canenjoy many interdisciplinary lectures such as art, literature andso on. There are also many advanced training courses, which
would surely broaden my horizons. I am sure we can acquire
knowledge and skills not only in medicine, but in a wide range offields. Let us satisfy our curiosity!

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Welcoming New Members

2Junichi Ishikawa

Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Research Theme: Development of innovative therapeutics
related to rheumatic and collagen tissue diseases
Message: I am very honored to be an LGS member. Under theLGS program, we can receive training at various cutting-edge
facilities both in Japan and overseas to gain diverse insights andknowledge. I believe experiences through the program will help
us become innovative researchers.

Motoyasu Kan

Department of Gastroenterology
Research Theme: Analysis of exosome associated with diabetes
derived from pancreatic cancer
Message: Until becoming an LGS student, I had worked as aclinician and treated many patients with digestive diseases. Many
medical procedures, such as endoscopy, directly affect patients’
health; thus, acquisition of skills is very important for me.
However, I have had little opportunity to get engaged in basic
science, and have no idea how basic science and clinical medicine
are related to each other. So, I joined this program to learn how I
can connect my clinical experiences with basic science. I wish I canexpand my vision and knowledge through the program. Myresearch is just getting started, and I will do my best.

Hiroki Kano

Department of Neurology
Research Theme: Development of a new innovative therapy for
immune mediated neuropathy
Message: I am very honored to be a member of the LGS
program. I will do my best to become a global leader in the field oftranslational research and clinical research.

“We wish you have a great timein the LGS!”3Overseas Training inSan Diego
From August 25-30, 2019, we had anoverseas training in San Diego, one of the
top biotech-regions in the United States.
During our stay, we visited 3 major bio-techcompanies (Tanabe Research Laboratories,
Kyowa Kirin Pharmaceutical Research
institute, BioLegend) and 1 research
institute in University of California, SanDiego. At each institute, we were given
lectures on their history and culture, andcutting-edge
technologiesofdrug
discovery. We also had the opportunity tolisten to each presenter's career track. Inthe United States, according to their talks,
it is easier for young researchers to conduct
research in cooperation with researchers ofother companies, or with their bosses.
However, there seemed to be more severe
competition in the United States than inJapan. Some researchers from Asian
countries also told us how they ended up
coming to the United States, which wasvery exciting and made us think about how
to develop our own career path.

During this training, I was particularlyinterested in the latest next-generation
antibody drugs, such as Bispecificantibodies and Antibody Drug Conjugates(ADCs). These drugs are now mainly used in
the field of immune-oncology, and expected
to be more effective and safer thanconventional treatments. Since I am aneurologist and had a limited knowledge of
those next-generation antibody drugs, thiswas a great opportunity to learn a lot aboutthem. I thought I might be able to try thesedrugs for neuroimmunological disorders.
This training helped us to understandthe difference between industry andacademia in the field of drug discovery, andthe importance of collaborating withothers. I would like to thank all the LGS stafffor giving us such a great opportunity.
Thank you!

HIROKI KANO

7th year LGS member

4““Together,We envision thefuture

Leading Graduate SchoolsForum 2019
Fiscal 2019 is the last year of thefinancial support for Leading Graduate
Schools (LGS) from Ministry of Education,Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT). Thus, the Leading Graduate
Schools Forum 2019 is considered as aculmination of the Leading Fora, which hastaken place annually since 2012.
The Leading Forum 2019 consisted oftwo sessions: the keynote speeches and theworkshop. The keynote speeches weredelivered by Mr. Masaya Futamiya (Chair ofKeidanren Committee on Responsible
Business Conduct & SDGs Promotion ofKeidanren) and Prof. Mutsuhiro Arinobu(Executive Director and Vice President of
the University of Tokyo). Mr. Futamiya
highlighted the importance of multiple
stakeholder involvement in realization of
the future society, called Society 5.0. Prof.
Arinobu delivered an inspiring speechentitled “What we expect for the graduateof Leading Graduate Schools”.

The second session was the workshop.
The forum brought together doctoral
students and alumni from 62 Leading
programs of 33 universities to approach thetopic of “How I will change the world”. The
participants were divided into 17 groups;
thus, each group could focus on one themefrom the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). The forum’s participants
discussed and worked together to envision
the society in the next ten years, the year of2030. After that, the participants
formulated solutions to achieve thosevisions. At the final session of theworkshop, each group presented theirvisions and solutions.
After the closing remarks of theLeading Graduate Schools Forum 2019, all
the organizers and participants vowed toreunite in 10 years.

MAULANA A. EMPITU
6th Year LGS Member

5Leading Graduate School

Winter Camp2020

On Feb 1, 2020, we held 6th Leading
Graduate School (LGS) winter camp on Chiba
University Inohana Campus. The LGS program
encourages students to start their own venturecompanies, and regards this winter camp as aplace where students can learn about starting abusiness. The first- and second-year students
divided into two groups to develop businessplans in line with the theme of this year,"Japanese medical problems and solutions seenat Olympic Games Tokyo 2020". Students spent a
few months to prepare their own business plans.
The winter camp started with teampresentations. After receiving advices fromsenior students and faculty members, they
discussed to reexamine their plans. After that,students presented revised plans.

At last, “Smart DOC” team won theprize for the best discussion skills and businessidea. The team proposed an AI-assisted
medical adviser system located inconvenience stores. After questioning local orforeign patients about their symptoms, AI
instructs them which medical institutions orservices they should go. Their purpose is toresolve language barriers to finding
appropriate health care services, and also toease high pressure on medical personnel
during the Olympics. Their business model
was highly valued for its practicality and great
potential for wide application.

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6Leading Graduate School(Continued)
At the 6th winter camp, we also had aninvited lecture by Dr. Tomohiro Tada, who is
CEO of AI Medical Service Inc. His company
invented an innovative AI-assisted Image
analysis system to support early detection ofcolorectal cancer. His products are expected tohelp many patients and to reduce burden on
medical staff, once commercialized. Dr. Hiroki
Sonehara, who is a graduate of this LGS
program, also gave a lecture. He is a model caseof LGS who started his business while at school.
It is very valuable to listen to those who actuallyoperate the company.

The LGS offers many opportunities to learn
how to start a business through lectures anddomestic and global internship activities.
Through this Winter camp, I gained a lot ofinsights. Without LGS program, I wouldn’t havethought about starting a business while
conducting research as a graduate student. We
look forward to learning more at next year’s
winter camp.

thKAZUMA IIDA

6 Year LGS Student

Winter Camp 2020

7

STUDENT’S EXPERIENCE:

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF HEMATOLOGY
61ST ANNUAL MEETING

Attending the 61st American Society of
Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition,
which was held in Orlando, FL, USA, on
December 7-10, 2019, was a window ofopportunity for researchers who study inhematology. The meeting facilitated networking
with a global community of more than 25,000
hematologists in all subspecialties, and provided
me with valuable learning experiences to discusswith the top minds in the field of hematology
during conference sessions, coffee breaks orlunchtime. I have learned many novel approaches
to science by attending many of the fascinating
research presentations, which also helped me toimprove my data presentation skills.
Moreover, my research abstract was also
accepted for a poster presentation at the meeting,and published in November (2019) supplemental
issue of Blood, an ASH journal. During the poster
session, many researchers asked several
questions and provided suggestions for doing
QUESTIO

further analysis, i.e., ChIP-sequencing andELISA(enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), tostrengthen my evidence. Besides, there was aninteractive half-day event for the young
research fellows, called ASH-a-Palooza, where
we had multiple opportunities of open learningfrom the leaders in the field of hematology. In
this session, I had one on one discussion with Dr.
Ogla Guryanova, Assistant Professor, Dept. of
Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University ofFlorida, regarding my future research as a postdoctoral fellow. She gave me a glimpse of how
post-doctoral researchers work in the USA, andinspired me to do good science during my Ph.D.
I believe attending international conferences,like the ASH meeting, broadens the horizon ofknowledge and networking, as well as provides
opportunities to explore current science.

PAUL SUDIP KUMAR

6thYear LGS Student

Graduating LGS Members

8On March 2020, six LGS members graduated from the program. They spent three to four years inthe LGS. What are their impressions about having been LGS members of Chiba University?

Wakako Kuribayashi

Department of Molecular Oncology
Research Theme: Aging of hematopoietic stem cells
Message: The LGS program gave me chances to visit various
places and to learn a lot. These experiences have brought mefriends, knowledge, and my next career. It wouldn’t have
happened if I had just focused on my research in the lab. Thankyou to everyone who has helped me along the way, and I wish you
all good luck in your future endeavors.

Hiroki Furuya

Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Research Theme: Cellular and molecular crosstalk in thedevelopment of allergic airway inflammation
Message: I appreciate the LGS program giving me special
opportunities to significantly improve my skills and abilities essential
for a global research scientist. The lectures in a wide range of fields
have deepened and broadened my knowledge. Besides, the program
enabled me to improve my presentation skills in English since it
provided me with many chances to give presentations and to discuss
in English. I would like to make the most of what I’ve learned in theprogram to contribute to science.

Yusuke Baba

Department of Endocrinology, Hematology and Gerontology
Research Theme: Transcription factor Tcf21 regulates cardiac
fibrosis after injury
Message: This LGS program gave me a lot of chances to expand
my insights. I organized a series of special lectures. Choosing andinviting speakers was a hard but precious experience. There weremany opportunities to discuss and make presentations in English
under this program. These experiences improved my English
communication skills, and inspired me to be a global leader. Last,
but not least, I would like to thank all the members and staff of theLGS program for supporting me.

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Graduating LGS Members9

Yukiko YamaguchiDepartment of Frontier Surgery
Research Theme: Lowering the setting value of the esophageal
endoscopic submucosal dissection device enabled tissue damage
control in an in vitro porcine model
Message: By participating in this program, I gained a lot of valuable
experiences. I was in charge of planning and operations of the Wintercamp, and it turned out to be a very wonderful meeting with the great
contributions of the guests and the participants. In the San Diegotraining with my classmates, I learned a lot and got some really funmemories. There were many difficult tasks given in this program, but
now I think that everything was necessary for me to be a global leader inthe future. I appreciate all the support I have received from colleagues
and staff of the LGS program.

Hiroaki Kanzaki

Department of Gastroenterology
Research Theme: FGF19/FGFR4 signal inhibition isindispensable for the antitumor activity of multi-kinase inhibitors
in hepatocellular carcinoma
Message: I am very grateful for having had the opportunity todiscuss my research findings with researchers from other labs
through the LGS program. I feel that I was able to make progressin my research knowledge and skills. From this program, I got
inspiration for my future research topic. Even after graduation, Iwill make every effort to become a global physician scientist using
my experiences in the LGS. Finally, I would like to thank all LGS
staff members for management of this program.

Kensuke Kayamori

Department of Endocrinology, Hematology and Gerontology
Research Theme: Synergistic effect of DHODH inhibitor PTC299 with
DNA demethylating agent in myelodysplastic syndromes
Message: Before entering a PhD program, I had worked as a clinicaldoctor for six years. This LGS program gave me different insights, which
I could not have obtained if I had just worked as a medical doctor. I neverthought about improving my English skills, getting along with people
whose major are different, or studying abroad before. All experiences I
gained during my time as a graduate will certainly become assets in mylife. I would like to say thank you all for your support and cooperation.

“We wish the best for all of you!”CONTACTLeading Graduate School at Chiba UniversityTEL.+81-43-226-2817 FAX.+81-43-226-2857
E-mail:lgs-jimu@chiba-u.jp | URL:https://www.m.chiba-u.jp/dept/lgs/
1-8-1 Inohana Chuo-ku Chiba-city, Chiba 260-8675 JAPAN