Makoto Ishii: Valuing Connections Between People

I graduated from the Keio University School of Medicine in 1996. Excluding six years working at affiliated hospitals and three years studying in the United States, I worked at Keio University Hospital for over 17 years before assuming my current position in June 2022. Although I am still in the middle of my journey as a clinician, I value the connections between people in every situation.

In terms of research, unlike in the past, the development of information technology has made it difficult for a small number of people to conduct research and produce high-quality results on their own. To achieve significant results, comprehensive analysis of big data is essential. Therefore, it is important to conduct joint research with various experts to move research projects forward. I believe that the key to advancing research together is to carry it out based on relationships of trust built by valuing human connections. During my time at Keio University, I served as a respiratory physician, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was involved in clinical care as the sub-leader of the COVID-19 medical team at Keio University Hospital.

Even during the pandemic, the faculty at Keio University were full of a desire to promote research and produce new findings. Under the leadership of the Dean of the School of Medicine, the "Donner Project" was established to clarify the pathology of COVID-19. I was involved in the research as the person in charge of clinical operations. Thanks to the close cooperation built on trust within the university, procedures for research consent and specimen collection were quickly established, and various results have been published. Furthermore, I served as the operational lead for the representative facility in the Coronavirus Control Task Force, which was established by Dean Takanori Kanai and succeeded by Professor Koichi Fukunaga of the Department of Respiratory Medicine.

In addition to the Juku, experts from various fields such as infectious diseases, molecular genetics, and genomic medicine from Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Osaka University collaborated. The research group grew to include over 100 participating institutions. Our paper, which identified the disease-susceptibility gene DOCK2 and demonstrated its molecular severity, was accepted by the journal Nature last year, and research is still ongoing. I truly feel that this is made possible by our mutual trust. I learned that even during the pandemic, it is important to work together to clarify academic questions and share them with the world.

Moving forward, I hope to continue my research while "valuing connections between people" and never forgetting my sense of gratitude.