Center Director: Kazuo Kishi (Professor, School of Medicine)
Campus: Shinanomachi
Center Overview
In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for individual, subdivided academic disciplines to address the challenges facing science and technology. In particular, to support the rapidly advancing field of medicine, collaboration between medical sciences, engineering, and pharmaceutical sciences is essential for the future development of medical technology. Keio University is a comprehensive university with a School of Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of Pharmacy. While collaborative projects have been promoted within the university, they have been limited to individual joint research. Therefore, the Keio Medical and Pharmaceutical Science and Engineering Commons (MPEC) aims to build a foundation for interdisciplinary research, creating a system that spontaneously generates collaboration between medical, engineering, and pharmaceutical fields.
Keywords and Main Research Themes
Medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration, Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, Neuroscience and rehabilitation, Biomechanics and computational engineering, Bio-drug devices, Biomedical imaging, Regulatory science
FY2018 Business Plan
■ Activities continuing from the previous fiscal year: Background, rationale, and goals
Promotion of inter-faculty research through medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. We will continue to engage in joint research through medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration under the common goal of human care medicine.
Holding regular medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration working group meetings. As in FY2017, we will hold regular MPEC meetings to work on joint research, grant applications, and the planning and management of the Incubation Lounge. In particular, we will strengthen our collaboration with the TR (Translational Research) division of the Center for Clinical Research, which began in FY2017, and explore mechanisms to vitalize medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration within the university.
■ New activity goals and content for FY2018, and background for implementation
Promotion of interdisciplinary research through medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. In our regular meetings, we will consider applying for new research grants and explore mechanisms for a sustainable on-campus platform for medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration.
Actions to vitalize medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. We will strengthen our collaboration with the TR division of the Center for Clinical Research, which began in FY2017, and consider concrete action plans to vitalize medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration within the university.
FY2018 Business Report
■ Implemented activities for the fiscal year's business plan, research outcomes, and degree of achievement
Promotion of interdisciplinary research through medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. We have conducted joint research through medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration under the common goal of human care medicine. Specifically, researchers from medical, engineering, and pharmaceutical fields are collaborating to promote the AMED Regenerative Medicine Hub Network Program. Additionally, lecturers from the School of Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of Pharmacy gather to regularly host symposia to promote interdisciplinary research in these fields. At each symposium, one lecturer is invited from each of the three faculties.
Holding regular medical-engineering-pharmaceutical working group meetings. We held regular MPEC meetings once every two to three months to discuss inter-faculty joint research, grant applications, and mechanisms for medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. In FY2018, we particularly collaborated with the TR division of the Center for Clinical Research to discuss mechanisms for vitalizing on-campus medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. Furthermore, we explored collaboration with JKiC (JSR-Keio University Medical and Chemical Innovation Center).
■ Number of published papers (number of papers and names of major journals), number of conference presentations (domestic/international), and social contributions such as events (date, location)
Relocation and operation of the medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration platform site. We operate http://keio-mpec.umin.jp. We disseminate information about the activities of the Keio Medical and Pharmaceutical Science and Engineering Commons (MPEC) through this website.
Holding medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration symposia. We hold these symposia once every four months, rotating among the three campuses of the School of Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of Pharmacy, to incubate inter-faculty joint research.
18th Incubation Lounge (July 17, 2018, Conference Room, 1st floor, JKiC, Shinanomachi Campus) http://keio-mpec.umin.jp/event/20180717.html
19th Incubation Lounge (November 16, 2018, Large Conference Room, 2nd floor, Raiosha, Hiyoshi Campus) http://keio-mpec.umin.jp/event/20181116.html
20th Incubation Lounge (March 6, 2019, Shiba-Kyoritsu Campus, venue to be determined)
■ Notable achievements through the center's activities
Through the "Medical-Engineering-Pharmaceutical Collaboration Symposia" hosted by this Keio Advanced Research Center, information exchange among researchers from the School of Medicine, Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of Pharmacy has been vitalized, leading to the initiation of inter-faculty joint research projects. Some of these research projects have successfully secured external funding, leading to the development of new joint research. The "Medical-Engineering-Pharmaceutical Collaboration Symposium" will be held for the 20th time in March 2019, and to date, nearly 60 researchers from the three faculties have given lectures. We have compiled a list of these speakers and launched a mailing list to promote medical-engineering-pharmaceutical collaboration. This mailing list is used for sharing information across faculties among researchers within the university.
Project Members
Principal Investigator
Kazuo Kishi
ProfessorDepartment of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of MedicineNoriko Aramaki
Full-time Lecturer (Intra-faculty)Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, School of Medicine