Science Tokyo celebrates launch of Institute of Integrated Research with kickoff symposium “New possibilities through the integration of knowledge”

Nishina outlined the relationships and distinct roles of the three institutes at Science Tokyo — the Institute of Integrated Research, the Institute of Future Science, and the Institute of New Industry Incubation. Regarding the positioning of the IIR at Science Tokyo, he stated that the IIR will serve as a foundation for Science Tokyo’s research capabilities by driving excellent fundamental research, fostering collaboration among researchers, and promoting development of new disciplines.

Tanaka expressed his hope that the IIR will take the lead in research at Science Tokyo, serving as a driving engine behind it. He further remarked that some universities around the world have achieved great results through the integration of science and engineering fields with medical and dental sciences, and voiced his expectation that Science Tokyo will also focus on interdisciplinary research and that the IIR will demonstrate its strength.

Matsuura expressed his hope that the IIR will generate research outcomes that help solve various societal challenges — such as energy, climate change, the declining birthrate and aging population, and infectious diseases — by integrating insights from diverse disciplines to develop new technologies and create knowledge through the organic collaboration of researchers from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, he noted his anticipation that Science Tokyo will serve as a hub for research capabilities in Japan.

“The most important factor in accelerating the process from research outcomes to drug production and implementation is not shortening the process itself, but rather producing a substantial amount of detailed, high-quality basic research and crafting a pathway leading up to drug development through collaboration with a diverse range of talent, including people from pharmaceutical companies and intellectual property experts,” said Mishima, sharing the knowledge he gained at AMED. He emphasized the significance of efforts by the IIR in basic research and the symposium’s theme of “integration of knowledge.”

Sugimoto expressed her hope that Tohoku University and Science Tokyo will further deepen their collaborative efforts in research fields and other areas and that the two organizations will continue to work together as valuable partners in university reform.

Drawing on his experience at the International Mathematical Union, Nakajima pointed out that it is important for researchers to be active in the community, both for their own research activities and for the development of young researchers. He also discussed the importance of promoting Japanese research outcomes to the world.

Oba introduced his efforts to discover new, previously unreported substances and materials based on predictions made using computational and data science techniques. He also reported cases where experimental verification has been achieved through collaborative research with experimental groups. Additionally, Oba discussed the expectation that analyzing and interpreting various physical properties will inspire new discoveries by material researchers and lead to new data-driven guidelines for material design.

Nishiyama introduced the development of technology that enables nanomachines — nanoscale medical devices equipped with various sensors and drug functions — to autonomously patrol the microenvironment inside the body and perform in vivo detection, diagnosis, and treatment. He discussed his current work on a nanomachine that controls aging to extend the healthy lifespan of human beings, and said that he aspires to bring about various innovations through the fusion of medicine and engineering.

One Health is a concept stating that it is necessary to improve the overall health of not only humans but also animals and the environment. Ito introduced examples of applying technology development that enables sensing the conditions of all things to solve social issues such as medicine and healthcare, environmental and animal welfare, and land conservation, in order to put the One Health concept into practice. He also spoke about his eagerness to work on medical and engineering collaboration and the continuous establishment of startups going forward.

Nakajima introduced his exploration toward the realization of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in medicine — where vast amounts of diverse data with various meanings coexist — by implementing a backend AI that interprets the types and meanings of data and algorithms and automatically networks them to enable data sharing. He also introduced the prospect of using image-based Vision AI and voice-based Auditory AI to overcome the UI barriers in medical settings where mice and keyboards cannot be used, thereby enabling a natural connection among people, things, computers, and events (work) without the feeling of using a computer.

Hayashizaki explained that radiation medicine requires the integration of knowledge and technology from medicine, physics, chemistry, engineering, and biology, and highlighted how it is a field where collaboration between medical and dental sciences and science and engineering can be most effectively demonstrated. He presented concepts which aim to put the results and technologies developed by the Laboratory for Zero-Carbon Energy into practical use for society at the Institute of Science Tokyo Hospital. Examples include prediction and modification of radiation sensitivity based on DNA, nuclear medicine quantum imaging technology, development of injectors for heavy ion radiotherapy, and a project to turn nuclear fuel materials into medical resources.

Shimamura introduced two examples of applying deep generative models to cell and molecular biology: (1) elucidating and controlling disease mechanisms based on cell dynamics, and (2) designing and optimizing new molecular inhibitors. He also described a future research approach in which AI makes predictions and designs, robots carry out experiments, and humans provide insights. Shimamura outlined the ambitious goals resulting from these efforts — namely, to increase research speed by tenfold and reduce costs by 80%. He pledged to further accelerate the discovery of causes of intractable diseases and the development of new treatments.

In order to estimate one’s position without relying on GPS, inertial navigation using accelerometers and gyroscopes is indispensable; however, low accuracy has long been a major challenge. Kozuma explained that he has achieved the world’s highest performance in a portable fiber-optic gyroscope, and by incorporating it into an inertial navigation system, and succeeded in improving its performance by a factor of 100 compared to conventional devices. To surpass the inherent limitations of fiber-optic gyroscopes, he has also been conducting parallel research into quantum gyroscopes. He proposed and experimentally verified a new operational principle that enables functionality even within moving vehicles. In addition, by leveraging ultra-high-precision inertial navigation systems, he is pursuing research that enables real-time and spatially continuous measurements of the Earth's geoid, with the aim of applying these data to improve flood prediction following earthquakes. Looking ahead, he introduced his plans to broaden his research to include stellar inertial navigation, with the goal of developing technologies for a wide range of applications, including ensuring the safety of commercial aircraft and enabling operations on the lunar surface.

While briefly reviewing the content of each lecture, Yanagida pointed out that research at the IIR is conducted at the intersection of various fields, and that the true value of the IIR is found in this cross-disciplinary research. She then concluded the symposium by discussing aspirations for the future: “We look forward to working with all stakeholders to develop the IIR into a knowledge platform capable of global contribution.”