JSPS Washington Office/日本学術振興会ワシントン研究連絡センター

“Food Science for the Future: Health, Supply, and Culture” [Nov. 18, 2017]

The Japan-US Science Forum was held on November 18 at Harvard University in Cambridge MA. This year, our theme was “Food Science for the Future: Health, Supply, and Culture.” The forum was opened by Dr. Kohji Hirata, Director, JSPS Washington Office; followed by Mr. Rokuichiro Michii, Consul General of Japan in Boston. Porf. Takao K. Hensch, Harvard University; and Porf. Mark C. Elliott, Vice Provost, Harvard University mentioned the relationships between Japan and themselves, and explained the importance of this forum.
Following the Welcome Address, Prof. Kenneth Oye, MIT Political Science, the moderator for the forum, opened the oral sessions by giving an overview of the topics. The Keynote lectures were given from a variety of research fields including, agricultural technology, chemical contamination, diet and obesity, and the culture of “Washoku”. Throughout the event, the speakers delivered compelling talks, which triggered many questions and a lively Q&A discussion.
Following the oral session, panel discussion themed “Policy challenge in food” was held and panelists discussed various food related issues from diverse range of view.

The poster session themed “food” was also held. “JSPS Washington Director Award” and “Consul General of Japan Award” were given to remarkable presentations which were reviewed from the point of its “Clear research question”, “Method”, “Clearness of Conclusion”, and “High readability”.


Consul General of Japan Awardee: Dr. Chisayo Kozuka (Joslin Diabetes Center and University of the Ryukyus)	JSPS Washington Office Director Awardee: Dr. Ryoko Katagiri (Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of public Health)

Approximately 160 participants which included researchers from universities, research institutes in the U.S., and interested members of the public attended the event.
The participants strongly requested that the forum should be held annually, and planning for next year’s forum have already begun.
Through activities like this, the JSPS WO will continue to provide opportunities to form researcher’s network and support building research collaboration between Japan and the US.

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