On June 12, the 95th Kitasato Memorial Ceremony was held at the Kitasato Auditorium on the Shinanomachi Campus.
The School of Medicine and the Sanshikai (School of Medicine Alumni Association) hold the Kitasato Memorial Ceremony to commemorate the great achievements of Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato, the first Dean of the School of Medicine and Hospital Director, on the anniversary of his passing on June 13.
In 1892, Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato founded the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases in Shiba Park with the assistance of Yukichi Fukuzawa. To repay the aspirations of Yukichi Fukuzawa, he assumed the position of the first Dean of the School of Medicine and laid the foundation for the current School of Medicine and University Hospital.
At the memorial ceremony, following greetings from President Kohei Itoh (read by Vice-President Yuko Kitagawa due to absence), Dean of the School of Medicine Toru Takebayashi, Sanshikai President Junzo Takeda, and Mr. Hideo Kitasato, representative of the Kitasato family, the Sanshikai Award (Kitasato Award and Kitajima Award) presentation ceremony was held. Additionally, many guests from the Kitasato Institute, including Toshiaki Sunazuka, President of Kitasato University, were in attendance.
The Kitasato Award by Sanshikai began in 1951 to commemorate the great achievements of Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato. In 1958, the Kitajima Award, commemorating the second Dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Taichi Kitajima, was added. The Kitasato Award (awarded for outstanding achievements in basic research and developmental research toward clinical application) and the Kitajima Award (awarded for outstanding achievements in clinical medical sciences and clinical research) are prestigious academic awards within the School of Medicine, with achievements recognized internationally being selected.
The recipients of this year's Kitasato Award and Kitajima Award are as follows. Following the award ceremony, lectures were given by the recipients. Participants listened intently to the presentations of advanced medical sciences research results.
【Recipient Lectures】
Kitasato Award: "Elucidation of the mechanism of immune epigenome reorganization originating from DNA damage in kidney-specific cells"
Kaori Hayashi (Professor, Department of Internal Medicine (Nephrology, Endocrinology, and Metabolism), Keio University School of Medicine)
Kitajima Award: "Establishment of optimal treatment strategies for Rheumatology and Collagen Diseases"
Yuko Kaneko (Professor, Department of Internal Medicine (Rheumatology and Collagen Diseases), Keio University School of Medicine)
Photography: Fumihito Morioka