JAPANESE LIFE-SCIENCE POLICY AS SEEN FROM NIH
RICHARD KRAUSE
The origins of modern medical research in Japan can be traced to the early influence of the microbiologist Kitasato who journeyed to Germany as a young man to work with Robert Koch. Their research led to anti-tetanus and anti-diphtheria antisera, the first wonder drugs for the treatment of often fatal infectious diseases. A brilliant visionary scientist, Kitasato returned to Japan and created an institute that bears his name. It became a prominent center for research in infectious diseases, and this early tradition of excellence has now been recognized in Japan as an essential element of any research enterprise.The early Japanese traditions of excellence in microbiology and immunology have continued to the present day. The Japanese independently developed a cellular pertussis vaccine and an attenuated chicken-pox vaccine which I have now been licensed. Japanese research on autoimmunity holds out the hope for new methods to treat crippling diseases such as arthritis and lupus erythematosus.
Since World War II Japan has fostered the development of science through the creation of new research institutes and university laboratories. Indeed, whole new cities are devoted to science. But institutes are not only bricks and mortar and gleaming new laboratories with the latest in computerized analytic equipment. Laboratories are places where people labor night and day and often on weekends. And it is the training of these Japanese scientists where there has developed a special relationship between the United States and Japan.
In the aftermath of World War II, many of the universities and institutes of Europe and Japan were either destroyed or starved for resources. Young scientists from Japan and elsewhere flocked to the United States for graduate and post-graduate education and training in medical research. And they still come. Since 1950, more than 2700 young Japanese scientists have trained in the laboratories of the NIH. Currently there are 350 visiting investigators. We are proud of our international alumni. Today, many of the alumni are eminent scientists in Japan. Professor Takashi Sugimura and Professor Osamu Hayaishi come to mind, but there are others.
Many of the Japanese scientists who trained in the NIH laboratories have been supported by the NIH budget, and so we are most appreciative that the JSPS has taken steps to provide the stipend support for some of these young people. We welcome them to our laboratories. They are excellent scientists, and they have become close colleagues of our senior NIH scientists. But as Japan increases investments in biomedical research, it is appropriate that there are Japanese-sponsor fellowships for the young Japanese who work in NIH laboratories.
Close scientific ties between Japan and the United States have developed on many fronts. Mention should be made of the Japan-U.S. Cooperative Medical Science Program which is now in its 31st year. This program was established in 1965 by a joint communiqu signed by President Johnson and Prime Minister Sato. The mission of the program was to foster collaboration between U.S. and Japanese scientists on the health problems of Asia, and it has done just that. Indeed, most recently, collaboration between Indian, Bangladesh, U.S. and Japanese scientists quickly identified the new strain of cholera (O139) and developed a research program leading to appropriate public health measures.
In reviewing Japanese science over the last 50 years, the achievements have been remarkable, and yet impediments for the future of science in Japan remain, and these require attention if Japanese science is to reach its full potential for biomedical research. Japan has in the last 10 years taken the lead in assessing its performance as measured against world wide standards. Several years ago the Mitsubishi Foundation held a three day Forum on Center of Excellence. Prominent science leaders from Japan, Europe and the U.S. identified areas that need further attention for the growth of biomedical research in Japan. Japanese institutions must foster a climate where young scientists can develop creativity and independence at an early stage in their career.
There is a perception among both Japanese and foreign advisors that ways must be found to internationalize the Japanese scientific institutions by providing opportunities for foreign junior and senior scientists. A number of impediments have been identified that limit this process, and they must be addressed. These matters were also discussed by a distinguished group of biomedical scientists from both Japan and the United States who met in March of 1996 in Tokyo at a workshop on "Future Perspectives of Japan-U.S. Cooperation and Exchange in the Biomedical Sciences." Both the U.S. and Japan should examine their conclusions and recommendations, and identify opportunities for action. The workshop urged that cooperation between the two countries focus on the neurosciences, brain function, genomics, human development, the immune system, and human genetics. Japan must develop one or more institutions, either as a separate research institute or as a component of a university for each of these scientific disciplines and search for ways to foster an international environment in them and provide a climate for the uninhibited growth of the young scientists.