On Monday, April 27, Yohei Matsumoto, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, visited the "Human Biology-Microbiome-Quantum Research Center (WPI-Bio2Q)" located on the Shinanomachi Campus and the Mita Campus.
First, at Bio2Q, which is the only private university selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI)," Bio2Q Center Director Kenya Honda, along with President Kohei Itoh, provided an overview of the center. The briefing was also attended by Vice-President Yuko Kitagawa, Keio University Hospital Director Koichi Fukunaga, Bio2Q Administrative Director Oltea Sampetrean, and Special Advisor to the Bio2Q Center Director Michisuke Yuzaki, who introduced the background of the center's establishment and its vision for the future.
Next, Minister Matsumoto visited the Bio2Q Structural Analysis Unit located within the Integrated Medical Research Building. Bio2Q Project Associate Professor Kunimichi Suzuki explained the research activities utilizing cutting-edge equipment such as cryo-electron microscopes, and the Minister listened intently.
Finally, he visited the planned construction site for the new Bio2Q research building, which is scheduled for future construction, before departing the Shinanomachi Campus.
Afterward, the location shifted to the Mita Campus, where he held a meeting with President Itoh, Vice-President Juro Iwatani, and staff from the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Office of Research Development and Sponsored Projects. They deepened discussions on initiatives and future prospects for realizing a "research university that creates the common sense of the future."
Photography: Aki Takematsu, et al.