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Welcome to CHIBA RESEARCH 2021, a publication that showcases the diverse and innovative work being based medicine, three-dimensional holography, as well as studies on how to achieve a fair and just society. This issue introduces the twenty-two innovative projects current- (see page 10); and Shigeru Yoshida’s use of ghost-like We hope you enjoy this issue of CHIBA RESEARCH and we look forward to sharing with you our latest research findings. © iStock.com/BlackJack3D 2 1 TABLE Guided by its motto “Always aim higher,” CHIBA UNIVERSITY strives to nurture globally minded students who have broad outlooks. The university values academic diversity OF and actively conducts leading-edge fundamental and applied research. CONTENTS Top Research Program Chiba University was founded as a national university in Japan in 1949, when Chiba Normal School, established in 1874, merged with Chiba Medical College and several other educational institutions. Currently composed of 10 faculties and 13 graduate schools, Chiba University is one of Japan’s largest 06 08 10 national universities, having about 11,000 undergraduate students, 3,500 graduate students and 3,500 MUCOSAL IMMUNOLOGY AND INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR CHIRAL faculty members on 4 campuses located near Tokyo. The main campus at Nishi-Chiba occupies an area of THERAPEUTICS HADRON ASTROPHYSICS MATERIALS SCIENCE almost 400,000 square meters (100 acres) and is conveniently located between Tokyo Station (about Fighting Pathogens at Their Revealing Hidden Messages from Using Light to Establish a New Point of Entry the Cosmos Field of Chiral Materials 40 minutes by train) and Narita International Airport. The 850-bed University Hospital, a core hospital for the region, is adjacent to the School of Medicine on the lnohana campus. 25 SOFT MOLECULAR ACTIVATION Research Incubator Program FOR INTELLIGENT MATERIALS Humanities and Social Sciences Catalyzing the Future of Smart Materials 14 CHIBA STUDIES ON GLOBAL FAIR SOCIETY 26 ADVANCED BONE-CONDUCTION Forging a Fairer World COMMUNICATION Bone-conductionTechnology beyond Hearing Aid 15 SMALL AREA ESTIMATION AND ITS APPLICATION 27 LYMPHEDEMA MONITOR Improving Datasets Using Small Area Estimation Making Invisible Lymphedema Visible 16 TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM OF PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOLOGY Cognitive Behavioural Theraphy Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Comes of Age in Japan 30 PHYTOCHEMICAL PLANT MOLECULAR SCIENCES 17 MIGRATION AND REFUGEE STUDIES Unlocking the Potential of Phytochemicals Living with People with Foreign Backgrounds 31 CANCER EPIGENOME CENTER A Different Approach to Fighting Cancer Science and Engineering 32 MEDICAL MYCOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER 20 NEXT-GENERATION THREE-DIMENSIONAL Manipulating Microbes for Human Health DISPLAY AND MEASUREMENT Future Images —More than Meets the Eye 33 MEDICINE FOR RARE DISEASES Innovative Approach Offers Hope 21 MULTIMODAL MEDICAL ENGINEERING for Intractable Problems Toward Image-Based Disease Diagnostics 34 GLYCOMEDICINE RESEARCH CENTER 22 CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE MICROWAVE Sugar Science’s Immunotheraphy Play REMOTE SENSING The Next Wave in Remote Sensing 35 LABORATORY OF DDS DESIGN AND DRUG DISPOSITION 23 IMAGING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Big Hopes for Nanotechnology Based FOR MATERIAL APPEARANCE AND AFFECT Drug Delivery Systems Affect and Realness in Digital Images 36 INTERNATIONAL HUB FOR METALLOMICS 24 INSECTS-INSPIRED BIG INNOVATION RESEARCH Looking to Nature to Revolutionize Flight Understanding the function of biometals for human and environmental health 2 3 Top Research Program MUCOSAL IMMUNOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS Fighting Pathogens at Their Point of Entry INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR HADRON ASTROPHYSICS Revealing Hidden Messages From the Cosmos CHIRAL MATERIALS SCIENCE Using Light to Establish a New Field of Chiral Materials © iStock.com/gremlin 4 5 MUCOSAL IMMUNOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS FIGHTING PATHOGENS -Vaccines that induce immune responses at mucosal AT THEIR POINT OF ENTRY membranes of the intestines, lungs and other organs could help prevent deadly infections. Research Keywords: Immunology, Mucosal Immunity, Allergy MUCOUS MEMBRANE The mucous membranes that line many FROM BASIC RESEARCH TO IN THE AIRWAY of the tracts and structures in the body are CLINICAL APPLICATIONS the first lines of defense against foreign Before new treatments can be developed, invaders. Equipped with a powerful and however, much more needs to be learned highly specialized immune system, these about the molecular architecture of the Mucous coat layered mucosal sentinels protect the surfaces and, mucosal immune system. That is why the with tiny hairlike cila. by extension, the body interior, against the International Center of Excellence is fo- threat of gastrointestinal, respiratory and cusing on basic research while simultane- sexually transmitted infections, as well as ously advancing clinical applications. It is cancer, allergies and more. also strengthening ties between research- Immune cells in the If these immune cells let their guard ers and industry in the hope of translating mucous membrane down, pathogens such as bacteria and its discoveries into therapies for patients. protect the body viruses can invade. On the other hand, To this end, Nakayama is building a robust against invasion by if they are overly vigilant, hyper-reactive pipeline of talented scientists who can pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. conditions like asthma or autoimmune move research findings seamlessly from However, if they are inflammatory bowel disease can take hold. the lab bench to the hospital bedside. too vigilant, they can Getting the balance right is the goal of “The research system we are creating is cause diseases. the International Center of Excellence unprecedented,” says Nakayama, who is in Mucosal Immunology and Innovative also vice president of Chiba University Allergy Therapeutics. and dean of the Graduate School of Med- Vaccines that directly Launched as a joint initiative between icine and the Faculty of Medicine. target the mucosal surface Chiba University and the University of Projects at the International Center of could provide more protection California, San Diego, in 2016, the center Excellence fall into three categories: than a typical injection. aims to harness the power of the muco- Hiroshi Kiyono is studying the basic sal immune system to develop the next mechanisms of mucosal immunology in generation of preventive vaccines against response to microbial infections and as- infectious, allergic and inflammatory sorted diseases; Nakayama and colleagues, diseases. including Atsushi Onodera, Motoko Most vaccines in use today are adminis- Kimura and Osamu Ohara, are focusing tered by injection. But since most infec- on allergic reactions and novel treatments tious agents enter the body at mucosal that target the mucosa; and Hiroshi surfaces, vaccinating through the nose, Nakajima and colleagues belong to the mouth, or some other mucosal route clinical research team that is developing could provide more protection. Since new vaccines and adjuvants for pathogens transmission often occurs at these sites, endemic to Japan and around the world. Members boosting the body’s ability to block that Chiba has initially committed US$2 transmission could stop an infection or million over five years to this alliance. Toshinori NAKAYAMA autoimmune reaction at its source. Together with a matching contribution Professor, Graduate School of Medicine “While existing injectable vaccines are from UC San Diego, the project will facil- able to prevent serious conditions from itate joint research and exchanges between Hiroshi NAKAJIMA Hiroshi KIYONO developing, they are not effective enough investigators and students on both sides Osamu OHARA Motoko KIMURA to defend against infection,” notes pro- of the Pacific. Atsushi ONODERA Akira SUTO gram director, Toshinori Nakayama. Yosuke KURASHIMA © Science Photo Library / Alamy Stock Photo 6 7 INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR HADRON ASTROPHYSICS REVEALING Two towers receive information from 5,160 light-detecting HIDDEN MESSAGES sensors buried 2,500 meters beneath the South Pole. FROM THE COSMOS The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, at the South Pole's Amundsen-Scott station. The International Center for Hadron Astrophysics is part of the Research Keywords: global collaboration constructing IceCube. Neutrino Astronomy, Cosmic Rays, South Pole, Elementary Particle Experiment -From a remarkable observatory buried deep in the south polar ice, Chiba University astrophysicists are helping to explore the origins of the Universe. Humans have been observing the stars of cosmic plasma, have great potential to or hydrogen nucleus. Of the trillion, trillion for tens of thousands of years, first with finally resolve this mystery.” neutrinos that pass through IceCube every our eyes, then with optical telescopes, day, the facility records just a few hundred THE ICECUBE COLLABORATION and more recently using devices that can collisions from high-energy neutrinos detect light at the extremes of the electro- Neutrinos are the most abundant particles — a minute fraction of the neutrino flux magnetic spectrum far beyond the visible in the Universe after photons (light parti- but more than enough to stimulate some range. Yet despite phenomenal progress cles). They originate in some of the most very exciting research. “We are proud of in astronomy over the past half century, violent and least understood cosmological having been key players in the discovery much of the Universe remains complete- phenomena like supernovas, galactic