Hiroyuki Kagechika (Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Director of Program Promotion) speaks about the establishment of the Disease Prevention Science Course doctoral program

With the rapid progress being made in the life sciences, postgraduate education is being called upon to develop and send out into society a continuous stream of human resources who can become opinion leaders because they have a high level of specialized knowledge as well as general skills consistent with society’s needs. The foundation for this initiative is the Tokyo Interdisciplinary Life Science Consortium, a collaborative effort of four universities located in central Tokyo: Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Ochanomizu University, Gakushuin University, and Kitasato University. With the cooperation of related academic societies, corporate stakeholders, and others, the consortium will systematize a postgraduate program for developing human resources in the life sciences.

We aim to make Tokyo a center for life-science knowledge by establishing the Disease Prevention Science Course in the doctoral program (starting in the 2014 school year), by raising education and research standards through the development of a common curriculum, by jointly implementing student support (internships and externships) and internationalization activities, and by promoting joint-research systems and collaboration with people in the region. (January 2013)