The 5th Grant

I gave an oral presentation in Hannoversch Münden, Germany, titled "Prediction of traditional clinical diagnostic patterns, deficiency-excess and cold-heat patterns, in Japanese Kampo medicine: A multicentre prospective observational study."

The 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) was approved at the WHO General Assembly in May 2019. This ICD-11 added a chapter on "Traditional Medicine" (Chapter 26: Traditional Medicine conditions – Module I), which includes traditional medical sciences practices established primarily in East Asia, such as Japan, China, and South Korea. Against this backdrop, I am currently developing a machine learning-based support system that enables even physicians who are not Kampo specialists and pharmacists who are not certified in Kampo medicines and crude drugs to easily determine a patient's "sho" (pattern) and select Kampo medicines or conduct prescription audits. In this report, I presented on the creation of a formula to predict the Kampo patterns of "kyojitsu" (deficiency-excess) and "kannetsu" (cold-heat) from patient interview results using data collected from six specialized Kampo medical facilities in Japan, and the extraction of interview items that contributed significantly to the prediction formula. The interview items that contributed significantly to the resulting prediction formula differed from those mentioned in previous studies and were consistent with the definition of "sho" in ICD-11.

As an example of the Q&A session, I was able to engage in many fruitful discussions, including a question from a physician using Kampo overseas about whether the obtained pattern prediction formula could similarly predict patterns in people of non-East Asian descent.

Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support.

(Ayako Maeda, 3rd Year, Doctoral Programs, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I participated in the poster session on the third day (October 21) of Neuroscience 2019, held in Chicago, with a presentation titled "Postnatal elimination of slow-type motor neurons induces late-onset neuromuscular deficits in mice: red muscle atrophy, posture abnormality and kinetic tremor."

This conference is the world's largest in the field of neuroscience, attracting researchers from diverse backgrounds. The poster sessions, exhibitions, and symposia each featured a vast number of presentations, all of which were incredibly stimulating. I feel that I was able to experience cutting-edge neuroscience firsthand.

During my own presentation, a great many researchers took an interest in my work, and I was able to engage in lively discussions. The advice from researchers, regardless of their specialty, was often spot-on, and I believe I must apply it to my future research. I also received encouraging words such as "This research is very interesting, keep up the good work," and "When will this be published as a paper?", which made me feel that my efforts to date had been validated.

However, there were times when I missed opportunities to deepen discussions due to my inadequate language skills. It is very frustrating to think that I could have had the chance to further improve my research if only my language skills had been sufficient. I intend to devote myself to improving not only my research abilities but also my language skills so that I can engage in even more meaningful discussions next time.

This invaluable experience was made possible solely through the support of Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude.

(Kai Kamishima, 1st Year, Master's Program, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I gave a poster presentation titled "Irbesartan has lower fetal toxicity and transfer compared to olmesartan in rats" at The Asian Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (AFPS) Conference 2019 in conjunction with the 4th International Conference on Advance Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (ICAPPS), held in Bali, Indonesia.

In this study, we focused on olmesartan and irbesartan, two angiotensin II receptor blockers that are contraindicated in pregnant women due to their fetal toxicity but have significantly different reporting rates for oligohydramnios in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. We investigated the differences in their fetal toxicity and fetal transfer. Furthermore, we considered the involvement of transporters as a factor causing the difference in fetal transfer and showed that OATP2B1 may be involved.

During the presentation, people from not only Japan but also from overseas showed interest, and I was able to use the entire presentation time to discuss with many people. Regarding the different substrate recognition of olmesartan and irbesartan by transporters, I received questions about structural differences and advice on structure-activity relationships, which was an experience unique to a conference that brings together researchers from various fields. Based on this valuable experience, I intend to devote even more effort to my research.

In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for subsidizing my expenses for attending this conference. It was a truly valuable experience. Thank you very much.

(Yu Ishikawa, 2nd Year, Master's Program, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I am writing to report on my participation in The Asian Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (AFPS) Conference 2019, which focused on pharmaceutics and was held in Bali, Indonesia. At this conference, I gave a poster presentation titled "Effect of maternofetal albumin concentration gradient in rodents on interspecies difference in fetal drug transfer between rodents and human." Specifically, I presented that (1) differences in protein binding rates cause an apparent underestimation of fetal transfer in rats, and that evaluating with the unbound drug concentration ratio can improve the accuracy of extrapolating fetal transfer from rats to humans; and (2) the results of this study are groundbreaking in that they present a new index for improving the accuracy of extrapolating from animal data to humans in the risk assessment of drug therapy during pregnancy. During the Q&A session of my poster presentation, I felt frustrated by the difficulty of discussing in English. However, I received many questions and comments from various perspectives regarding the new index that is the result of this research, which gave me new ideas and clarified the issues I should focus on in the future. Also, during the conference, I had the opportunity to interact with various researchers and was strongly inspired by the level of students of my generation, which I feel was a very valuable experience. I intend to apply what I have learned at this conference to my future research activities and to devote myself even more. Finally, my participation in this conference was made possible by receiving a research grant from Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude.

(Takahiro Nomura, 2nd Year, Master's Program, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I participated in and gave a poster presentation at "The 42nd Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan," held in Fukuoka Prefecture.

With conventional structural analysis methods, it was difficult to analyze under conditions where a membrane potential was formed, and the opening/closing mechanism of hERG, which functions according to the membrane potential of cardiomyocytes, was unknown. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the membrane potential-dependent opening/closing mechanism of hERG by using the peptide toxin APETx1, which binds to and stabilizes the functional state of hERG during membrane potential formation. At this meeting, we presented our electrophysiological analysis of APETx1 and hERG mutants, which identified the amino acid residues involved in their interaction. During the presentation, many people who I don't usually have the chance to interact with, such as corporate researchers, listened to my presentation, and I was able to engage in lively discussions. In addition to my own presentation, listening to the presentations of other researchers allowed me to directly learn about original ideas and research techniques, which greatly broadened my perspective. Through this conference, I feel that the issues I need to address in the future have become clear, and I have been able to broaden the range of my own interests. From now on, I intend to make the most of what I have learned at this conference and to do my utmost to further develop my own research.

Finally, this conference presentation was made possible by the generous support of the Sato Pharmaceutical Research Encouragement Award from Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to express my deepest gratitude.

(Kazuki Matsumura, 3rd Year, Doctoral Programs, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I gave an oral presentation titled "A Study on the Efficacy and Safety of Therapeutic Agents for Clostridioides difficile Infection" at the joint meeting of the 66th Eastern Japan Branch Meeting of the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and the 68th Eastern Japan Regional Meeting of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases.

Clostridioides difficile is a spore-forming, gram-positive bacillus and is a representative bacterium that causes healthcare-associated infectious diarrhea. Because the distribution of hypervirulent strains differs by country, the first-line drugs for non-severe cases differ between the Japanese and US clinical practice guidelines for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). However, there are few reports in Japan that have investigated the efficacy of therapeutic agents by classifying severity. Therefore, to verify the validity of the Japanese guidelines, this study retrospectively examined the efficacy and safety of therapeutic agents for CDI.

At the conference, there were several presentations on CDI, the same as my research theme, and I was able to learn new findings from research conducted with perspectives and themes different from my own. I also participated in symposia and was able to gain the latest knowledge. I would like to apply what I have learned this time to my future research. Participating in the conference was a very valuable experience.

Finally, my participation in this conference was made possible by the support of Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude. Thank you very much.

(Kana Misawa, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)

While various educational strategies are being developed for pharmacy practice clerkships, there is currently a lack of evidence regarding their learning outcomes. I am conducting research to analyze learning effects from the perspective of educational and social psychology.

Through experiencing various pharmacist duties, trainees recognize their confidence in learning behaviors and their areas of strength. In a previous study, we showed that trainees' self-efficacy (psychological factors such as confidence and proficiency) regarding their specialized pharmaceutical knowledge is positively correlated with learning outcomes.

This presentation reported on the impact of "general self-efficacy," which everyone possesses, on success experiences. While general self-efficacy has high predictive accuracy for judging the feasibility of everyday actions, its relationship with behavior in pharmacy education has not been established. This study revealed that the general self-efficacy of pharmacy trainees increases through practical training, that this change is greater in trainees who are confident in their academic performance, and that general self-efficacy indirectly promotes success experiences by inducing learning in dispensing and medication counseling. From these findings, I believe that trainees' general self-efficacy is a useful predictor of learning effects in constructing practical training education.

At the conference, I received useful advice from educational researchers in various fields and also received the Excellent Presentation Award. I intend to apply the knowledge gained at this meeting to my paper submissions and ongoing research.

Furthermore, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for providing the research grant for my conference presentation.

(Fumihiro Kikuyama, 1st Year, Doctoral Programs, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

I gave a poster presentation titled "Identification of Background Factors Affecting the Risk of Specific Adverse Drug Reactions in Patients Receiving Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 Inhibitors" at the ISPE's 12th Asian Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology and 25th Japanese Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology joint meeting, held at the Miyako Messe in Kyoto City. I shared with Asian researchers the results of a study that examined whether it is possible to extract patient background factors by conducting a latent class analysis on adverse reaction cases where DPP-4 inhibitors, a treatment for diabetes, were reported as suspected drugs in Japan's spontaneous reporting database, JADER. This focused on latent class analysis as a method for analyzing the factors of adverse reaction occurrences using a spontaneous reporting database. During the presentation, through discussions with researchers in the field of pharmacoepidemiology, I was able to receive opinions that served as an opportunity to identify the current challenges of my research and its future prospects. Also, by listening to research presentations and lectures by pharmacoepidemiology experts gathered not only from Asia but from all over the world, I was able to broaden my knowledge of pharmacoepidemiology, including research methods and available medical databases. Participation in this conference will be an important experience for my future growth as a researcher. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their support in attending this conference.

(Daigo Kaseda, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)

Thank you very much for selecting me for the Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Research Encouragement Award. I participated in the joint meeting of the 68th Eastern Japan Regional Meeting of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and the 66th Eastern Japan Branch Meeting of the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, held at the Sendai International Center, and gave an oral presentation titled "Population Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Fluconazole in Patients with Hematological Diseases." This study aimed to establish an individualized dosage regimen for fluconazole, used for the prevention of deep-seated mycosis in patients with hematological diseases, by conducting a population pharmacokinetic analysis. The results revealed that body weight and renal function affect pharmacokinetics, and based on the model formula obtained from the analysis, we created a dosage design nomogram according to body weight and renal function. At the conference, I received questions about the research background and blood concentration measurement, and I felt that a deeper understanding of the research theme and related knowledge is necessary to explain it clearly to others. I was also able to listen to lectures and presentations by researchers and clinicians specializing in infectious diseases and antimicrobial agents, which deepened my knowledge of the latest findings and allowed me to learn about presentation methods and how to respond to questions. I would like to use this experience as a foundation for my future research and presentations and continue to make further efforts. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support in attending the conference.

(Hikaru Isono, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)

I participated in the "joint meeting of the 68th Eastern Japan Regional Meeting of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and the 66th Eastern Japan Branch Meeting of the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy" held at the Sendai International Center, and gave an oral presentation titled "Population Pharmacokinetic Analysis of Daptomycin in Patients with Renal Impairment." Daptomycin is an anti-MRSA drug that is primarily excreted by the kidneys, and its use at high doses is also recommended in guidelines. However, because there is no population pharmacokinetic analysis focusing on Japanese patients with renal impairment, a dosing method that ensures efficacy and safety when administering high doses to patients with renal impairment has not been established. Therefore, we conducted a population pharmacokinetic analysis of patients administered daptomycin and constructed an effective and safe dosage design method for patients with renal impairment.

At this conference, I presented on this dosage design method, which provided a valuable opportunity to have discussions with physicians and pharmacists who are active in clinical practice. Specifically, regarding the dosing interval of daptomycin, the package insert recommends administration every 48 hours for patients with severe renal impairment with a creatinine clearance of <30 mL/min, whereas the dosage design in my presentation was for every 24 hours. We were able to discuss this from the perspectives of efficacy and safety.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their support in attending this conference.

(Hayato Ito, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)

I participated in The 4th Annual Meeting of the Association for Pharmaceutical Education Japan, held at Osaka University from Saturday, August 24 to Sunday, August 25, 2019, and gave a poster presentation titled "A Study on Effective Class Formats for Fostering a Sense of Ethics."

To foster a sense of ethics as a healthcare professional, it is necessary to cultivate proactive and multifaceted thinking skills, and active learning, in which learners participate proactively, is considered effective. However, there have been few studies investigating the impact of active learning on the sense of ethics in pharmacy education. Therefore, in this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey of students taking the active learning-style class "Life Science and Ethics" offered at the Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy and clarified that this class format is effective in fostering a sense of ethics.

During the poster session, I received very valuable opinions and questions from faculty members involved in pharmacy education, making it a meaningful time full of new insights and learning for me. Through discussions with the faculty, I was also able to gain new perspectives. I also exchanged various opinions with students from other universities who were presenting nearby, which was encouraging for the future and made my participation in the conference very fulfilling. I will leverage this experience to further devote myself to my research and academic studies. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for giving me such a valuable opportunity.

(Kurumi Naito, 6th Year, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy)