iCeMS and NCKU Hold Bilateral Symposium
On June 12, iCeMS hosted a delegation from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan for a symposium, “Next Generation Healthcare—Interdisciplinary Approaches”. The delegation led by Yan-Shen Shan, Dean of the College of Medicine, was composed of researchers from the university and the university hospital. NCKU last visited iCeMS in 2019. Jun Suzuki (iCeMS) has been working to organize this symposium to investigate collaborative opportunities between the institutes.
Director Motonari Uesugi introduced iCeMS and his own research on self-assembling small biomolecules. Welcoming the attendees, he asked participants to identify at least one mutually beneficial collaboration that could be initiated immediately.
NCKU and iCeMS researchers alternated presenting their research. They also shared tools and techniques that they had available and tried to identify gaps in their research or technology they thought could be useful to furthering their understanding. Presenting for NCKU were Chia-Jui Yen, Kuer-Jer Tsai, Chao-Kai Hsu, and Chen-Yu Huang. iCeMS representatives were Susumu Kitagawa, Tomoko Inose, Shuhei Furukawa, Mineko Kengaku, Ganesh Namasivayam, Chayanit Wechwithayakhlung, Sooyeon Kim, Fuyuhiko Tamanoi, Daishi Fujita, and Jun Suzuki.
NCKU presentations highlighted their research into cell therapy for a wide range of conditions, including cardiac and neuro-regeneration, rare dermatological disorders, and cancer. iCeMS showcased their breadth of research into fundamental chemistry and biology and the ability to enhance research by incorporating data theory. They highlighted research, and technological innovations in imaging and analysis that could have biomedical application. After every talk there were always questions probing to see how the work presented could find even greater application. Nearly all the Q and A sessions had to be cut to keep the program on schedule; however, participants were able to continue their discussions the next day and solidify plans for future collaboration.
