ARO Alliance for Southeast & East Asia

01JUNE2024

A R i S E NEWSLETTER
A s i a nc l i n i c a lt r i a lp l a t f o r m

Message from Editor in Chief andARISE Secretary General
KOJI WADA, MD, MSc, PhD
The Academic Research Organizations (AROs) Alliancefor Southeast and East Asia (ARISE) was launched by theNational Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM)
in 2021, using the grant from the Japan Agency for
Medical Research and Development (AMED), to further
strengthen international collaboration with Asian countries
in the healthcare sector. Its founding vision is to promote
efficient and effective collaboration by facilitating clinical
trials for infectious diseases among member institutions.
Originally composed by ten member institutions
from Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, andVietnam, the alliance has expanded its network by
attracting new academic institutions from Malaysia andJapan. This growth reflects the impact and potential
to meet current demand in the healthcare landscapein Asia. Furthermore, ARISE continues to strengthen
cooperation with international organizations and clinical
trials networks around the world to contribute to a global
movement towards more effective clinical research.
In the two years, since it was launched ARISE actively
implemented its strategies, achieved remarkableaccomplishments that deserve to be shared.
Starting from June 2024, this newsletter will be
regularly updating the readers about the Alliance andEditorial team“Welcome to the 1st release of our newsletter!
Thank you for your interest and taking the time toread. As a team, we always strive to provide youwith the most up-to-date and valuable content that
resonates who we are as an organization. And it iswith great excitement that we share some of ouractivities and achievements. Don’ t miss out on theopportunity to learn, connect, and grow with us.”■ Editor in-Chief: Koji Wada, MD, MSc, PhD■ Associate Editor: Muchanga Sifa Marie Joelle, MD., PhD■ Editorial Board: Maria Urbiztondo Umano, MD. PhD,Marlinang Diarta Siburian, MBiomed,
Katsumi Ishii, RPh, RMT, MSc,
Le Mai Phuong, MSc■ Editorial Assistant :Sonoko Ishiyama

ARISE operations are maintained by a Secretariat at the National Center for
Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. The team under the supervision ofthe Secretary General is composed of following members:

ARISE Secretariat

Sifa is an Obstetrician
and Gynecologist whoholds a PhD in clinicalepidemiology. CertifiedClinical Research
Coordinator. She has
more than 5 years’
experience at the NCGM
as a Project Manager.

its activities.
The first volume will focus on a brief introduction of theAlliance, the ARISE Secretariat and the annual report for
the fiscal year 2023 (April 2023- March 2024).

Maria is a physician who
h old a P hD in Hum anP a t h o l o g y. S h e h a scompleted Clinical Research
Coordinator course fortrials in Japan. She has
more than 5 years’
experience at the NCGM asa Project Manager.

Marlinang is a biomedical
researcher with 10 years
experience on molecularepidemiology on Hep
B and liver cancer. She
joined DIT since 2018 asRegional Manager andinvolved in several clinicalIs hii is a r e gis t er e d
Pharmacist and Medical
Technologist who holds
a MSc in international
health. He has more than
15 years’ experience for
Infectious disease control
in several countries ofMai is a public healthresearcher. She has over 10years’ experience in infectious
diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS.
Her research interests focus
on health promotion among
vulnerable populations. Le
presently works as a Vietnam

studies on Covid-19.

Asia.

Liaison Officer at NCGM.

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Activities during the fiscal year 2023
During the fiscal year 2023, several activities have been done in the network. Activities varied from clinicalstudies project support to events.

Clinical studies project support
The 2nd Joint International Project on measuresagainst Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) andPromoting Proper Use of Antibiotics in Vietnam
With the perspective of promoting Public-privateAcademia-Partnership; for the second time, the NCGM’sDepartment of International Trials (DIT) provided
technical assistance, protocol supervision, and overall
project management to Sumitomo Pharma Co.
This joint study evaluated the susceptibility of several
antibiotics against 1,263 isolated strains of Gram-negative
bacteria collected from 11 Vietnamese institutions: Nguyen
Tri Phuong Hospital, Vietnam National Children’s Hospital,
Viet Duc Hospital, 103 Military Hospital, Cho Ray Hospital,
HCMC Medical University Center Hospital, Pediatrics
Hospital, Thu Duc Hospital, Gia Đinh Hospital, Thong Nhat
Hospital, Trung Vuong Hospital, and Nguyen Tri Phuong
Hospital between February 2023 and May 2024.
The results will be used in clinical settings atparticipating medical facilities, and will be reported to
the Ministry of Health for use in future antimicrobial
resistance measures in Vietnam.

companies in Japan. After a selection process, ten
companies were chosen to participate in the project.
Bureau of International Health Cooperation (BIHC) andthe DIT facilitated the implementation. There were twoconsecutive visits in February and August to prepare theproject. Selected companies introduced their products
during the 3-day visit in December at two ARISE
member institutions: Siloam Hospitals Lippo Village(SHLV) & Universitas Indonesia Teaching Hospital (RSUI).

EventsThe 2nd ARISE-PMDA joint Symposium for
Asian Clinical Trials’ “How to collaborate asone Asia”
This hybrid symposium held on July 20, 2023 in Tokyo
registered 376 participants.
It was a three session symposium that featured
presentations on issues and initiatives from theperspectives of pharmaceutical companies, academia,and regulatory authorities which focused on: Regulatory
Issues Surrounding Clinical Trials in Asia,” “Using NewTools and Approaches in Clinical Trials,” and “FirstPatient In (FPI) in Asian Clinical Trials” .
The discussion was centered on how academia,
regulatory authorities, and industry can work together
to address barriers and accelerate FPI for approvals inAsia. The panel concluded with the hope that ARISE willcontinue to bring regulators, academia, and industry
to discuss issues related to clinical trials, as well as
to promote regulatory harmonization and accelerate
regulatory approvals.

The project on measures against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) closing out

Supporting business plan of Medical Equipment
Development for Overseas based on local
needs (SMEDO) in Indonesia
Tokyo Government initiated SMEDO project tointroduce medical products developed by small-middle
The 2nd ARISE-PMDA joint Symposium for Asian Clinical Trials

The 2nd ARISE Annual Meeting

A group photo of SMEDO team: Tokyo Government representative, NCGM teamand 10 Japanese medical device company representatives with Siloam Hospitals
Group Executives (left) and with University of Indonesia Teaching Hospital (right).

2ARISE NEWSLETTER

From February 6-7, ARISE members joined physicallyor online at the 2nd Annual Meeting held in NCGM.

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June 2024

NCGM Executives committee and guests from funding
agencies and partner organizations also joined.
During the meeting, the new ARISE committee
members from NCGM were introduced: Dr. Haruhito
Sugiyama, NCGM’s Hospital Director and Chief
Representative of the ARISE; Dr. Koji Wada, Director of
the DIT and ARISE Secretary General.
Two new member institutions were welcomed, namely,
Kyushu University represented by Dr. Koji Todaka andUniversity of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) represented
by Ms. Zulaikha Syazwani Zulkifly, who attended onsiteand Dr. Phan Chai Wei attended online, bringing thenetwork from 12 to 14 members.
During discussions, the members reaffirmed theircommitment to continue with the ARISE vision andmission while focusing their attention to infectious
disease trials with emphasis on vaccine development
for a better preparedness towards a new pandemic.
The freely accessible link to the e-learning course forclinical trial professionals, (http://kokusairinshouigaku.
jp/publicity/index3.html) developed by the Capacity
Development Working Group led by Osaka University
was shared.
Guest speakers from the Economic Research Institutefor ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and the Translational
Research Center for Medical Innovation (TRI) gavelectures.
The third annual meeting will be held in Bangkok at
the Mahidol University, Siriraj Hospital.

The 2nd ARISE Annual Meeting

The 4th NCGM International Symposium for
Clinical research/Trials: “Low- and middleincome countries in the dawning era of clinical
trials digitalization”
The hybrid symposium was held on February 7, 2024,with a total of 234 participants.
The program had two sessions and a panel discussion.
In the first session, Prof. Nsengi from DRCongo andMs. Ordinario from the Philippines talked about thehurdles in implementing digital tools in limited settings.
Whilse in the 2nd session, Prof. Todaka from Japan, Prof.
Phan from Malaysia, and Prof. Rungroj from Thailand
introduced their experience on how digital tools could
benefit trial operations particularly for remote trial,
subject recruitment and retainment, and outcome
measurements. Between sessions, a polling survey was

ARISE NEWSLETTER

held for the participants to survey on the digital readinessof their country. The panel discussed about readiness ofLMICs for digital transformation, how to overcome thecurrent challenges, and the results of the polling survey.
The use of digital tools was no longer a questionof “if” but “when” and “how much” . There was highexpectation for the use of digital tools from LMICs
including ARISE members. Many of the digital tools
in trial operations were provided by sponsors and not
so much from local institutions. More support fromlocal governments, particularly for guidelines andinfrastructure development are needed.

Discussion panel session at the 4th NCGM International Symposium led byDr. Wataru Sugiura, Director of CCS

ARISE Secretariat activities
Indonesia visit
From mid-February to early March 2024, Ms. Marlinang
operated the Indonesia co-office in Jakarta. Theobjectives of her stay were to introduce Dr. Koji Wada
to ARISE members and other collaborating institutes
in Indonesia and to further explore future potential
collaboration with Indonesia.
She visited two other prominent institutions for
introduction and exploring opportunities for futurecollaboration. First institution was the Clinical Epidemiology
and Biostatistics Unit (CEBU), Gadjah Mada University
meeting with Prof Dr Jarir At Thobari and his team who is
an expert in clinical research especially vaccine trials. Thesecond visit was to the Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin
University (Unhas), meeting with Prof Dr Haerani Rasyidand her team. Unhas is a renown academic institution
especially in the field of infectious diseases.

Top left: at Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia
Top right: at Moctar Riady Institute for Nanotechnology, Indonesia
Bottom left: at Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia
Bottom right: at Medical Faculty of Medicine, Hassanuddin University, Indonesia

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June 20243University of the Philippines Manila (UPM)
Dr. Koji Wada and Dr. Maria Ruriko Umano visited
the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) in March
2024. The purpose of the visit was to gain a better
understanding of the clinical trial environment at
ARISE member institutions. They also paid a courtesy
call to key official leaders of the UPM and the Philippine
General Hospital.
NCGM’s reorientation of its vision of conducting clinical
trials on infectious diseases and finding prospective sites
and collaborators was another aim of this three-day trip.
The visit included tours of the Research Institute forTropical Medicine and San Lazaro Hospital. Both facilities
are known for their expertise in infectious diseases.
On these engagements, discussions and meetings
were held, focused on potential collaborations andfuture opportunities. Additionally, the research institutes
provided an overview of their ongoing activities.
Overall, the visit was a resounding success and laid thefoundation for stronger academic collaboration between
the two institutions, paving the way for joint projects
and initiatives.

The team also visited the Asian Partnerships office of theNational Cancer Center Hospital. It is worth to strengthen
the collaboration between the two national centers for
efficient implementation of trials in the Asian region.
At the Ramathibodi Hospital, a monitoring visit wasconducted for the Virtual Reality (VR) study which isa study for treating Major Depressive Disorders using
virtual therapy. (Study registration: UMIN000052903)

In front of the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University

Meeting with SICRES management staff

In the NCGM Thailand Collaborating
OfficeGroup photo (L to R) : Prof. EdRuamero, Dr. Benjamin Sablan Jr., Dr.
Eva Cutiongco- dela Paz, Dr. GerardoLegaspi, Dr. Koji Wada, Dr. Maria Ruriko
Umano, Dr. Maria Rejane Umano

Dr. Koji Wada and UP Manila Chancellor,
Dr. Michael Tee

10Mahidol University, Siriraj Hospital andThailand Collaborating OfficeForm 27 February to 2 March 2024, Dr. Wataru
Sugiura, Dr. Koji Wada, Mr. Masato Ichikawa, Mr.
Naoki Tomotsugu and Dr. Muchanga Sifa accompaniedwith the delegation from the AMED, and the Ministryof Health Labor and Welfare (MHLW) visited theMahidol University, Siriraj hospital to discuss about theorganization of the 3rd ARISE Annual Meeting and future
clinical trials collaboration. Participants concluded thatthe meeting will be held in Bangkok and Siriraj Hospitalwill host the meeting on November 21-22, 2024.

8961474325131Network1211■ Japan① National Center for Global Healthand Medicine② Nagasaki University③ Kyushu University④ International University of Healthand Welfare⑤ Osaka University■ Indonesia⑥ Faculty of Medicine, University ofIndonesia⑦ Mochtar Riady Institute forNanotechnology

ARISE NEWSLETTER vol.01 Issued in June, 2024

ARISE

■ Malaysia⑧ Clinical Research Malaysia⑨ University of Malaya MedicalCenter■ Thailand⑩ Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj
Hospital, Mahidol University■ The Philippines⑪ Corazon Locsin Montelibano
Memorial Regional Hospital⑫ University of the Philippines
Manila
⑬ West Visayas State University■ Vietnam⑭ Bach Mai Hospital

ARISE

Contact: ARISE SECRETARIAT OFFICE
Department of International Trials (DIT), Center for Clinical Sciences
National Center for Global Health and Medicine
1-21-1, Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8655 JAPANe-mail: arise@hosp.ncgm.go.jp
ARISE website：https://arise.ncgm.go.jp
DIT website：https://ccs.ncgm.go.jp/050/index.html
Facebook：dit-info@hosp.ncgm.go.jp
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