2014.09.25
Project Associate Professor Shinji Fukuda of the Graduate School of Media and Governance (Institute for Advanced Biosciences) was awarded the 3rd Mishima Kaiun Memorial Prize from the Mishima Kaiun Memorial Foundation, and the award ceremony was held on July 11.
The Mishima Kaiun Memorial Prize honors young researchers (under 45 years of age) with creative and outstanding research abilities in the academic research fields of natural sciences and humanities/social sciences, and its academic research grants support outstanding research in the natural sciences and humanities that shows promise for future development.
Award-winning research theme: Creation of a fundamental technology for health maintenance by controlling the intestinal environment through diet
Reason for award: In the field of food science related to the intestinal microbiota, which plays an important role in maintaining and promoting human health, he has achieved numerous research results and is pioneering a new research area. His work is highly original and outstanding, and it makes a significant contribution to the advancement of food science research.
Comment from Project Associate Professor Shinji Fukuda
Our intestines are home to approximately 100 trillion intestinal bacteria of several hundred species, weighing 1.0 to 1.5 kg, which form a complex intestinal ecosystem. While it was known that maintaining a certain balance in this intestinal ecosystem contributes to our health, many details about the mechanisms by which it does so remained unclear. By leveraging the latest omics analysis technologies based on metabolomics, a strength of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, we were the first in the world to reveal that intestinal bacteria metabolize the food components we consume, and the resulting metabolites act on our bodies to contribute to health maintenance and promotion. In the future, from the nature-rich location of Tsuruoka, I hope to disseminate unique, world-class research with the keywords of food, intestinal bacteria, and health, aiming for a future with zero disease.
Mishima Kaiun Memorial Foundation Website
http://www.mishima-kaiun.or.jp/
IAB Website
http://www.iab.keio.ac.jp/jp/content/view/548/140/
Faculty Profile
http://vu9.sfc.keio.ac.jp/faculty_profile/cgi/f_profile.cgi?id=4b6eeaf56e240