Contemplating "Tenmei" at the World's Leading Research Sites

2020/01/17

Since graduating from the School of Medicine about 12 years ago, I have been involved in research on respiratory infections while gaining clinical experience. For the past two years, I have been conducting research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., to investigate the pathology of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease, a chronically progressive respiratory infection. The NIH is an organization directly under the U.S. government and is also the world's largest medical sciences Research Centers and Institutes. Many research achievements have been produced from this facility.

NIH Director Francis Collins is a renowned geneticist who served as the representative of the International Human Genome Project and is also an expert on cystic fibrosis, an incurable congenital disease characterized by recurrent respiratory infections. He is also famous as a band member and often performs with his band on the NIH campus. When the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis was discovered 30 years ago, he composed an original song called "Dare to Dream," hoping that one day patients suffering from cystic fibrosis would be able to breathe freely based on this discovery. Thirty years later, new drugs based on research findings have appeared one after another in recent years, and the treatment outcomes for cystic fibrosis patients are rapidly improving. It is truly embodying the transition from "Dare to Dream" to "Dreams Come True." Seeing videos of Collins singing "Dare to Dream" together with patients at a gathering, accompanied by his own performance, naturally brings up strong emotions.

On the other hand, spending my days among many talented researchers here at the NIH often makes me think about my "Tenmei" (mission) as a researcher—questions like "How much can I contribute to research?" and "What is my original research?" Yukichi Fukuzawa left behind words to the effect that "effort can change even one's Tenmei." While I still lack the effort required to change my own "Tenmei," I feel that by placing myself at the world's leading research sites and becoming friends and colleagues with many researchers from Japan and around the world, I have come to understand a little more about my "Tenmei" as a researcher. In fact, this might be the greatest harvest of studying abroad. While "Daring to Dream" that patients suffering from the pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease I am working on will one day be able to forget their illness and breathe freely, I hope to advance research with at least some originality alongside my colleagues from around the world.