Information is the nutrient needed to develop post-market drugs.

The theme of our research is "how to use post-market drugs effectively and safely."

Specifically, we focus on "creating information" that is useful in clinical settings, based on scientific data regarding drug efficacy and side effects.

This is none other than "drug nurturing," which involves developing drugs through diverse and abundant information.

Drug Informatics and pharmacokinetics are indispensable disciplines for drug nurturing,

and I believe they are of the utmost importance for clinical practice.

(As of March 2023)

If I were to succinctly express the theme of our current research, it would be "how to use post-market drugs effectively and safely." It is known that there are individual differences in a drug's efficacy and side effects, but it is not yet fully understood why these occur.

We are trying to elucidate the causes of these individual differences from the perspective of pharmacokinetics. Pharmacokinetics refers to "how a drug moves within the human body." One aspect of this is the "study of drug-beverage interactions." When a drug is taken with a beverage other than water, its efficacy and side effects can change, which can be explained by variations in the pharmacokinetic process of absorption. Until now, drug efficacy has mostly been considered in terms of average values, but by pursuing the causes of individual differences one by one, we can make the efficacy and safety of drugs more certain.

Furthermore, by understanding the factors behind individual differences, it becomes possible to tailor the use of drugs to each individual. To do this, we collect various basic data on each drug, but in its raw form, it is just data and not necessarily directly useful in medical care. It is necessary to create drug information from the obtained data that is viable in clinical settings, addressing "how specifically the drug should be used."

A drug immediately after it has been marketed is, in a sense, an unfinished product. Drugs are marketed if their benefits are assessed to outweigh their risks, so risks are always inherent. I believe that is the nature of drugs. In this respect, our research can be said to be part of "drug nurturing," which develops these unfinished drugs. This process of creating drug information to enhance efficacy and safety is especially crucial for new drugs, as their risks are often not yet well understood.

Moreover, existing drugs can be reborn as new drugs through the process of drug nurturing. For example, thalidomide, which became problematic due to its adverse drug reactions, is now used appropriately again as an effective drug, thanks to numerous research findings and the drug information created based on them. Aspirin, with a history of over 100 years, was initially launched as an antipyretic and analgesic, but it is now more often used for different purposes, such as inhibiting blood coagulation. There are many other examples like this where drug information has breathed new life into a drug.

The Department of Clinical Pharmacy (Faculty of Pharmacy) and the Department of Hospital Pharmaceutics (School of Medicine), which I oversee, can be considered part of the medical-pharmaceutical collaboration at Keio University. This collaboration offers significant benefits for students of the Faculty of Pharmacy. The main workplaces for pharmacists can be broadly divided into pharmacies and hospitals. Regarding pharmacies, the University Community Pharmacy on the Shiba-Kyoritsu Campus makes them a familiar presence, but Keio University Hospital was a somewhat distant entity, both physically and psychologically. Through this medical-pharmaceutical collaboration, we can reduce this psychological distance and increase opportunities for Faculty of Pharmacy students to receive education and conduct research in clinical settings. In the future, it will also be possible for the Faculty of Pharmacy and the School of Medicine to exchange information and develop more practical education together.

When it comes to university education, the focus tends to be on learning deeply, but learning broadly is just as valuable. It is especially important for undergraduate students in their first year to take advantage of many learning opportunities. First-year students at the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy study at the Hiyoshi Campus alongside students from other faculties. There, in addition to specialized subjects, they can take a wide variety of general education courses unique to a comprehensive university. They will also have opportunities to deepen their interactions with students from other faculties through classes and extracurricular activities and to be exposed to various ways of thinking. A university is inherently a place where one can learn both deeply and broadly, and Keio University, as a comprehensive university, provides an environment where both are possible.

Furthermore, among the many faculties, the Faculty of Pharmacy can be said to be one that offers a wide variety of career paths. While most graduates of the School of Medicine become clinicians, graduates of the Faculty of Pharmacy have options not only as pharmacists in clinical settings but also in research and development, working for food companies, or in government agencies. It is precisely because we want students to choose a future they are satisfied with from many options that the Keio Faculty of Pharmacy offers a wide range of studies taught by a faculty with diverse expertise. My own career started as a hospital pharmacist, and I have since been involved in various fields. Personally, I believe that pharmacokinetics and Drug Informatics are the most important disciplines required of pharmacists in clinical settings. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that having experienced a wide range of studies will be useful in various ways in the future.