Progress Toward Joint iCeMS-NCBS Satellite Labs Focusing on Stem Cells and Single-Molecule Imagining
August 20, 2010
From August 24 to 26, Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS) Director Norio Nakatsuji will lead a delegation to visit the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research's National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), located in Bangalore, India.
The group will include Prof. Akihiro Kusumi, Administrative Director Shinji Tomita, iCeMS Kyoto Fellow (junior PI) Ziya Kalay, Assoc. Prof. Ryotaro Matsuda, Asst. Prof. Stéphane Diring, Dr. Sravan Goparaju, and Dr. Hiroyuki Kodama. During their visit the members will focus on the following three areas:
• Laying the groundwork for future establishment of joint iCeMS-NCBS satellite labs (the first such project for the NCBS);
• A joint symposium on August 25; and
• Discussions about accelerating ongoing joint research as well as discovering new areas for prospective collaborative work.
By fulfilling these various goals and encouraging an exchange of ideas by promising young scientists in India and Japan, both institutes hope to realize significant progress in their complimentary fields of research.
 View of the NCBS campus in Bangalore, India |
About the NCBS
The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), located in Bangalore, India, is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The mandate of the NCBS is fundamental research in the frontier areas of biology. Research interests range from the study of single molecules to ecology and evolution. In addition, the Centre engages in a number of collaborative initiatives, such as inStem (stem cells and regeneration biology) and iBio (interdisciplinary exploration of living matter incorporating physics and chemistry), as well as helping to develop cutting edge instrumentation and software via C-CAMP. The NCBS and the iCeMS signed a memorandum of understanding in April 2010, but collaborative research between individual NCBS and iCeMS scientists began even prior to the iCeMS' founding.
About the iCeMS
The Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences at Kyoto University aims to advance the integration of cell and material sciences -- both of which are traditionally strong fields for the university -- by creating a uniquely innovative global research environment. The iCeMS seeks to integrate biosciences, chemistry, material science and physics to capture the potential power of meso-control of functional architectures and stem cells. Cells in living organisms have acquired these tools to control the mesoscale realm (from several nanometers to 1µm) through the course of evolution, thereby realizing clean chemical reactions in ambient environments to perform functions such as energy conversion, cell growth and differentiation.