Where Is Chiba University?
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© 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 TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAM OF Research Incubator Program PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOLOGY Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Cognitive Behavioural Theraphy Comes of Age in Japan 14 PHYTOCHEMICAL PLANT MOLECULAR SCIENCES Unlocking the Potential of Phytochemicals Science and Engineering 15 CANCER EPIGENOME CENTER A Different Approach to Fighting Cancer 28 NEXT-GENERATION THREE-DIMENSIONAL DISPLAY AND MEASUREMENT Future Images More than Meets the Eye 16 MEDICAL MYCOLOGY RESEARCH CENTER — Manipulating Microbes for Human Health 29 MULTIMODAL MEDICAL ENGINEERING Toward Image-Based Disease Diagnostics 17 MEDICINE FOR RARE DISEASES Innovative Approach Offers Hope 30 CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE MICROWAVE for Intractable Problems REMOTE SENSING The Next Wave in Remote Sensing 18 GLYCOMEDICINE RESEARCH CENTER Sugar Science’s Immunotheraphy Play 31 IMAGING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR MATERIAL APPEARANCE 19 LABORATORY OF DDS DESIGN AND DRUG DISPOSITION Realness in Digital Images Big Hopes for Nanotechnology Based Drug Delivery Systems 32 INSECTS-INSPIRED BIG INNOVATION Looking to Nature to Revolutionize Flight Humanities and Social Sciences 33 SOFT MOLECULAR ACTIVATION FOR INTELLIGENT MATERIALS 22 CHIBA STUDIES ON GLOBAL FAIR SOCIETY Catalyzing the Future of Smart Materials Forging a Fairer World 34 ADVANCED BONE-CONDUCTION 23 SMALL AREA ESTIMATION COMMUNICATION AND ITS APPLICATION Bone-conductionTechnology beyond Hearing Aid Improving Datasets Using Small Area Estimation 35 LYMPHEDEMA MONITOR 24 MULTI-PERSPECTIVE UNDERSTANDING Making Invisible Lymphedema Visible COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR GROUP Predicting Human Behaviour 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 disease. 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, Yoshitaka Okamoto and Naoki mouth, or some other mucosal route Shimojo belong to the clinical research could provide more protection. Since team that is developing new vaccines and transmission often occurs at these sites, adjuvants for pathogens endemic to Japan Members boosting the body’s ability to block that and around the world. transmission could stop an infection or Chiba has initially committed US$2 Toshinori NAKAYAMA autoimmune reaction at its source. million over five years to this alliance. Professor, Graduate School of Medicine “While existing injectable vaccines are Together with a matching contribution able to prevent serious conditions from from UC San Diego, the project will facil- Yoshitaka OKAMOTO Naoki SHIMOJO developing, they are not effective enough itate joint research and exchanges between Hiroshi NAKAJIMA Hiroshi KIYONO to defend against infection,” notes pro- investigators and students on both sides Osamu OHARA Motoko KIMURA gram director, Toshinori Nakayama. of the Pacific. Atsushi ONODERA Akira SUTO 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 cores of high-energy cosmic neutrinos, which ly hidden from view, obscured by other and black holes. After their birth, they astrophysicists have been dreaming matter, other radiation sources, and light’s travel in straight lines from their source about for more than 30 years,” says interaction with the interstellar medium. with almost no deflection or absorption, Yoshida talking about his team mem- Now, scientists are on the verge of being making them ideal messengers from the bers in ICEHAP. able to peer into some