Category: Newsletter 21

At the board meeting held on April 15, 2019, Dr. Iwao Ojima was elected the new president of FUTI, succeeding Dr. Masaaki Yamada who has been president of FUTI since 2015. The appointment is effective as of September 30, 2019, the date of the 2019 annual board meeting. Prior to making this appointment, the board appointed Dr. Ojima a member of the board effective on April 15, 2019. He had been serving as a member  of the advisory committee and scholarship committee. He will continue to serve on the latter after becoming President. Dr. Ojima’s main research area in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry and chemical biology, is at the multidisciplinary interface of chemistry, biology and medicine. Dr. Ojima received numerous awards in Japan and abroad. In 1998, he was awarded the 51st Chemical Society of Japan Award for distinguished achievements from the Chemical Society of Japan. He received prestigious Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award for his seminal contributions to synthetic organic chemistry in 1994, Emanuel B. Hershberg Award for Important Discoveries in Medicinally Active Substances in 2001, ACS award for Creative Work in Fluorine Chemistry in 2013, and Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products in 2019, all from American Chemical Society. He is an elected Fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation (1995), American Association for Advancement of Science (1997), New York Academy of Science (2000), American Chemical Society (2010) and National Academy of Inventors (2014). For full details about his awards, honors, and publications, please visit https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/chemistry/faculty/_faculty-profiles/ojima-iwao. President-elect Ojima commented, “Since its inception in 2007 under the leadership of the Presidents, Mr. Junji Masuda and Prof. Hisashi Kobayashi, Friends of UTokyo, Inc. (FUTI) started providing excellent opportunities to a number of highly talented students from the U.S. and Japan through FUTI’s summer scholarships. In 2015, Professor Yamada assumed the President of FUTI, and, with a generous support from the Ito Foundation USA, has greatly expanded the FUTI’s scope of activities by implementing scholarships to mid-to-long term study abroad programs. These scholarships have been clearly making substantial impact on the lives and early career development of outstanding UTokyo and U.S. students in science, technology, arts and humanities fields as potential next-generation leaders in the world. It is very exciting and fulfilling to see such fruits of FUTI’s activities. As the fourth President of FUTI, succeeding Professor Yamada’s legacy, I will do my best to continue and further the FUTI’s mission with the help of Vice President Kuwama and FUTI Board/Advisory Board Members, as well as to explore productive collaborations with the University of Tokyo New York Office, Inc. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those who have supported FUTI in its mission to foster the young global leaders of tomorrow and ask for your continued support.” Articles in this newsletter:

At the Board Meeting held on April 15, 2019, the FUTI Board appointed Dr. Yumi Nakayama, newly elected President of Satsuki-kai America, and Dr. Masako Osako, President of Chicago Akamon-kai, as ex-officio members of the Advisory Committee. This action reflects FUTI’s commitment to work closely with UTokyo alumni associations in the U.S. They will join Presidents of San Francisco Akamon-kai and Stanford Silicon Valley Akamon-kai as ex-officio members. Prof. Geeta Mehta, Advisory Committee member, remarks, “We are pleased to have Drs. Nakayama and Osako as new members of the Committee. I hope that their appointments will help their organizations’ members better understand FUTI’s programs and needs. Drs. Nakayama and Osako have been helping FUTI by inviting our scholarship awardees to their lectures and other events. We would like to have the presidents of other UTokyo alumni groups in the US to join the Advisory Committee as new members.” Ms. Nakayama is Scientist I at Celgene Corporation specializing in hermatology/oncology. Satsuki-kai America has a nation-wide membership of about 100 alumnae with chapters in New York, Boston, DC, and Chicago. Prior to the appointment as President, Ms. Nakayama served the alumni association for over 7 years as Director. Please find her bio narrative at the FUTI About page. Ms. Osako, gerontologist, is Executive Director of the International Longevity Center Global Alliance, an international NGO with member centers in 15 countries. Chicago Akamon-kai has a membership of about 90, many of whom are affiliated with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Dr. Osako has supported the alumni association for the last several years by leading its Taiken program for UTokyo students and other programs. Please find her bio at the FUTI About page. Articles in this newsletter:

At the Board meeting held on April 15, 2019, the FUTI Board appointed Dr. Shohei Koide as Scholarship Committee member and Drs. Yuriko Suzuki and Akiko Koide as Advisory Committee members. Dr. S Koide is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the New York University School of Medicine and Director of Cancer Biologics at the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Yuriko Suzuki is an expert in drug discovery and development, compliance and safety, and has worked in a variety of entities including  large global pharmaceutical companies and small biotech startups. Dr. Akiko Koide is a Research Assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine and Perlmutter Cancer Research Center at NYU. The bios of these three appointees can be found on the FUTI About page. Dr. Shige Matsushita, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, comments on Dr. S. Koide’s appointment, “We are delighted to have Dr. S. Koide, a distinguished scientist, to join the Scholarship Committee. The depth and width of his scientific research will add much to the quality of the Scholarship Committee’s selection process, particularly because the number of FUTI applicants in biochemistry, life science, and related fields are on the rise.” Prof. Koide has actively supported FUTI by giving a FUTI lecture and advising FUTI alumni. Dr. Yuichiro Kuwama, FUTI vice-president and treasurer, remarks, “We are delighted that Dr. Suzuki and Dr. A. Koide have accepted our request to serve as Advisory Committee members. Dr. Suzuki, former President of Satsuki-kai America is well known for her leadership among UTokyo alumnae and healthcare/pharmacology professionals in New York. Dr. Akiko Koide, a well-known expert in protein engineering, has assisted FUTI in the areas of lecture planning and publication. We have high expectations for their continuing contribution to the FUTI community.” Articles in this newsletter:

There are two types of scholarships offered by Friends of UTokyo, Inc. (FUTI). One is for short-term study abroad programs called the FUTI Global Leadership Program. The other is for mid- to long-term studies called the Ito Foundation USA-FUTI Scholarship. Details for both programs are on our webpage: https://friendsofutokyo.org/scholarships-grants/. The Scholarship Committee Chair, Dr. Shigenori Matsushita, shared his thoughts on the award results saying, “Thanks to each and every one of our supporters, we were able to select many highly qualified students, and to continue supporting the globalization efforts of the University of Tokyo. We look forward to receiving reports on the contributions the recipients will make to society and to the University of Tokyo, directly and indirectly.” Below is a report of the scholarship selection results for this year. FUTI Global Leadership Program For 2019, the FUTI Global Leadership Award was presented to seventeen students. Nine students from U.S. universities will be studying at the University of Tokyo this summer and eight students from the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) will be enrolled in a U.S. university for the summer. Here are the statistics on award recipients from 2016 onwards. 2016 2017 2018 2019 US→UTokyo 9 10 12 9 UTokyo→US 6 8 6 8 This year we noted the following trends. FUTI’s role in UTokyo’s study abroad programs in the U.S. is changing, reflecting the circumstances described below: 1)      The problem of academic calendar mismatching persists, as U.S. summer programs clash with UTokyo’s second quarter. 2)      The interest in applying for a FUTI scholarship has diminished among UTokyo students due to an increase in quality and quantity of support available for study abroad from the university. Nowadays, students can gain admission into certain universities abroad that have an agreement with UTokyo, by simply passing the UTokyo’s in-school selection process. 3)      Students in the following circumstances continue to demand support: The Global Education for Innovation and Leadership (GEfIL) program, requires students to attend an overseas program in the summer, but doesn’t provide adequate financial help. FUTI’s support can fill the gap between total expenses and the scholarship offered by GEfIL. At UTokyo, 6th-year medical students are required to engage in practical expertise in Japan or abroad. Programs such as the International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) offers only limited or no scholarships at all. The demand for FUTI scholarships from U.S. university students remains strong. Since sufficient financial support is not available to many students, they rely on FUTI to fund their trips, especially in the following two programs: University of California study abroad programs, such as the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) for summer internships in science and engineering at UTokyo. International Research Center for Neurointelligence (IRCN) ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.-FUTI Scholarship The number of award recipients is given below, followed by the trends noted: Academic Year 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Total 9 10 12 9 Surprisingly, many applicants this year were seeking FUTI support for a PhD program in the U.S. However, a number of the applicants were not accepted into their PhD programs. This led to a discrepancy between our initial award expectations and the final selection result. Due to this reason, our award decisions were delayed this year and the number of recipients was smaller than in past years. For next year, we are planning to make the following changes: We will revise our webpage to clarify our policy on the scholarship for PhD students and to give detailed guidance regarding the challenges of entry into a PhD Program in the U.S. We will modify our scholarship selection process for PhD applicants. Articles in this newsletter:

On February 27, 2019, in Manhattan, New York City, a special preview screening of the short film “Breakers” was held along with a meet-and-greet with the film director, Minami Goto, a recipient of the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.-FUTI Scholarship. While a student at the Columbia University Film School, Ms. Goto won the Avex Digital Award for best film plan at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2017, an international short film festival and Academy Award sanctioned competition. A preview screening of the completed short film, “Breakers” was shown to the 31 attendees of this event who enjoyed a 25-minute story of a friendship between Japanese high-schoolers and their rebellion against adults. After the screening, Ms. Goto gave a presentation on the long process of filmmaking starting from its planning stages, production preparation, filming, post-production, to its distribution. Using scenes from “Breakers” as examples, she explained the different phases that a filmmaker must go through to create a movie. Dr. Yuriko Suzuki, FUTI Advisory Committee member, commented, “I really enjoyed the movie and admire Ms. Goto’s talent. In the (Japanese) society, people often complain about their working/living environments, but there are very few who actually take an actions, instead of just complaining. This movie appears to highlight the challenge and importance of taking an action rather than simply complaining.” Among the attendees were students in New York on short-term visiting programs, and with so many questions and thoughts being shared, there was hardly enough time to get through the discussions. Articles in this newsletter:

On March 15, 2019, Dr. Iwao Ojima, University Distinguished Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook and a member of FUTI Advisory Committee gave a lecture in New York titled “Quest for Efficacious Cancer Chemotherapy based on Next Generation Taxanes and Their Tumor-Targeted Delivery.”  The event was organized by Satsuki-kai America and supported by Friends of UTokyo, Inc. More than 20 participants including alumni, graduate students, researchers, and pharmaceutical professionals, attended the lecture held at the UTokyo New York Office in mid-Manhattan. Dr. Ojima started his career in the U.S. at the Chemistry Department, State University of New York, Stony Brook in 1983, after establishing his international reputation at the Sagami Research Institute in Japan. He was promoted to the rank of University Distinguished Professor in 1995. He served as the Department Chair in 1997-2003, and has been serving as the founding Director of the Institute of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery (ICB&DD) since 2003. He spent his sabbatical years at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon (1989), University of Tokyo (1996), The Scripps Research Institute (1997) and Université de Paris XI (1997). Dr. Ojima received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1968, his Master of Science degree in 1970, and his Ph.D. degree in 1973 all in chemistry from the University of Tokyo. Dr. Ojima’s field of research in chemistry is exceptionally broad and prolific, exploring multidisciplinary interface of chemistry, biology and medicine. He is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards and honors. For details, please visit https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/chemistry/faculty/_faculty-profiles/ojima-iwao. Following opening greetings by Dr. Masaaki Yamada, FUTI President, Dr. Ojima presented his investigations into the chemistry of natural products, spanning over 25 years, on the occasion of his receiving the 2019 Ernest Guenther Award from the American Chemical Society. His work has been driven by a strong quest for the discovery and development of next-generation taxanes and their highly efficacious tumor-targeted drug delivery. The abstract of his lecture states: Paclitaxel (Taxol®) and docetaxel are among the most widely used chemotherapeutic drugs against various types of cancer. However, these drugs cause undesirable side effects as well as drug resistance. Therefore, it is essential to develop next-generation taxane anticancer agents with better pharmacological properties and improved activity especially against drug-resistant and metastatic cancers. Our studies have led to the development of numerous highly potent novel second- and third-generation taxanes. The third-generation taxanes show virtually no difference in potency against drug-resistant and drug-sensitive cell lines. Some of the next-generation taxanes also exhibit excellent potency against cancer stem cells, which are the cause of cancer recurrence and metastasis. This lecture concisely presents investigations into taxanes over 25 years based on a strong quest for the discovery and development of next-generation taxanes and their highly efficacious tumor-targeted drug delivery. The critical importance of multidisciplinary research in these endeavors, as well as emerging academia-industry collaborations in drug discovery will also be discussed. During the presentation and Q & A session, the audience, especially young researchers, asked many questions resulting in a lively exchange of ideas and opinions. A standing ovation followed after he concluded his talk by commenting, “This type of research is highly challenging, but also very exciting. I hope I conveyed some useful messages about new-generation cancer chemotherapy to the audience.  I would also like to stress the critical importance of multidisciplinary research in these endeavors as well as emerging academia-industry collaborations in drug discovery.” Articles in this newsletter:

Yuki Haba, founding member, has contributed the following essay/announcement to this Newsletter Greetings to all the supporters of Friends of UTokyo, Inc. My name is Yuki Haba. In 2015,  I traveled abroad to study at Columbia University thanks to the support from FUTI, and currently I am in graduate school at Princeton University pursuing my doctoral degree as a researcher of evolutionary genetics. Here I would like to introduce the new FUTI Alumni established this year. As you may know, FUTI provides financial support and opportunities to joint projects or programs which encourage the exchange of ideas to enhance the University of Tokyo community in Japan and around the world. From scholarship/travel grants aiding in the participation of summer programs in U.S. universities or mid- to long-term studies abroad,  to research grants helping to finance cooperative projects between UTokyo and U.S. universities, a total of more than 150 people have benefited from these scholarships since 2010. The important effect these scholarships and grants have on the recipients is quite clear in reading the FUTI newsletters or students’ reports. Although there are periodic events hosted by FUTI (e.g., FUTI lecture series) or gatherings organized by volunteers (e.g., welcome luncheons), and posts on the FUTI Facebook page (e.g., the “Reports from the Scene” Series), there have not been an official plan or system in place for scholarship recipients to connect or stay in touch. This situation seems a waste of an opportunity because these 150-plus FUTI award recipients/alumni are outstanding individuals who have prevailed through tough competition even within UTokyo.  There is great potential in forming an attractive community by connecting such a group of people. For example, an opportunity for younger scholarship recipients (such as a sophomore attending a summer program in the U.S. who have ambitions but aren’t yet certain of their path) to be able to get encouragement and information from past and current recipients would be invaluable. In addition, it would be even better if there is a way in which recipients can share their enthusiasm for their work, leading to joint research or ventures. Moreover, this could lead to opportunities for them to support FUTI by volunteering for events or contributing ideas and articles for publication. Hence, we have established the FUTI Alumni Association. Basically, it will 1) hold an annual FUTI Alumni Association gathering event in New York, and 2) open a FUTI Alumni Association Facebook page (a closed group of just alumni and staff) and establish a mailing list. The FUTI Alumni Association will undoubtedly connect outstanding Japanese and American FUTI scholarship recipients and lead to a stimulating and intellectual community. Activities and announcements will be made along the way in the newsletter! If you are interested in in joining FUTI Alumni Association, please contact us at FUTIalumni [at] gmail.com Yuki Haba, Founding MemberPrinceton University, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyWebsite: https://mudanamono656565.wixsite.com/yukihaba/cv-japanese Articles in this newsletter:

Professor Alexandre Debs(Department of Political Science Yale University) December 18, 2018December 19, 2018 Professor Alexandre Debs was the guest speaker for the 13th Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lecture (sponsored by FUTI). Professor Debs delivered two talks: the first talk was held at Komaba Campus on December 18th and the second one at Hongo Campus on the 19th. Professor Debs teaches at the Political Science Department of Yale University. He is also a research fellow at the University’s MacMillan Center. He received his Ph.D. degree in Economics from M.I.T. and an M.Phil. in Economic and Social History from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He has been conducting research on the causes of war, nuclear proliferation, and democratization. His work has appeared in many leading academic journals such as the American Political Science Review, the Annual Review of Political Science, International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, among other outlets. His most recent work is Nuclear Politics: The Strategic Causes of Proliferation (with Nino Monteiro), published by Cambridge University Press in 2017. Professor Debs’ talk at the International Relations Department of Komaba Campus was titled “The Strategic Tensions of the July Crisis”. About 16 scholars and graduate students attended the seminar intended for international relations specialists. Although most historians agree that the July Crises led to the First World War because leaders expected that they can win relatively easily, such “mutual optimism” is a theoretical impossibility within the predominant game-theoretic explanation of the causes of war. A rationalist explanation of war based on mutual optimism is possible only when one relaxes the axiom that leaders calculate the outcome of the armed conflict and assumes that leaders have to explain the reason for war to the domestic public. Based on these points, Professor Debs presented his model which coherently explains the mutual optimism of the July Crisis, arguing that belligerents on all sides were unilaterally optimistic when the enemy’s aggressiveness facilitated the selling of the war to their public and reinforced their belief that they could win in a short time at relatively low cost. The 60-minute talk was followed by comments by Dr. Yuri Shiraito (an assistant professor at the University of Michigan and an alumnus of UTokyo’s Law and Politics School), which opened a lively discussion. The intensive discussion was of high quality thanks to the graduate students who actively raised a wide range of pointed questions and related issues. The second lecture was held at Hongo Campus on December 19th and was titled “The Strategic Causes of Nuclear Proliferation: Northeast Asia in Comparative Perspective”. The talk was open to the public and was co-sponsored by the Policy Alternatives Research Institute (PARI) and the Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP). Around 45 participants attended. Following introductory remarks by Professor Nobuhiro Hiwatari (Institute of Social Sciences), Professor Debs gave an outline of his new book, which presents an innovative explanation on the causes of nuclear proliferation and revisits the issue of effective counterproliferation. Based on a formal model, tested by all known cases of nuclear proliferation attempts, he argued that countries acquire nuclear weapons when they are exposed to a serious security threat, can afford obtaining such technology, and cannot depend on major powers to provide nuclear deterrence against a common foe. As such, counter-proliferation is likely to succeed if adversaries can make credible threats of a preventive war and/or allies can provide security assurances before a country’s nuclear program bears fruition. He concluded that threats are most effective against weak potential proliferators and assurances are effective with strong potential proliferators. Thus, preventive threats are unlikely to be effective in the case of North Korea, which already has the capability to destroy Seoul, whereas Japan and South Korea remain non-nuclear due to assurances from the US. Professor Shuhei Kurizaki (Associate professor at Waseda University) explained to the audience the force and novelty of Professor Debs’ theory before opening the floor to questions by the general audience. Thought provoking questions entailed, making this talk as much of a success as the previous day’s seminar The Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lectures are made possible by the financial support of the Friends of Tokyo, Inc (FUTI) in cooperation with the McMillan Center, Yale University *Dr.Yamakawa Kenjiro was Yale University’s first Japanese student who graduated with a Bachelor of Physics in 1875. After his graduation, he led an accomplished career as a renowned physicist and professor at the University of Tokyo. Later, he served as the President of the Imperial University of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kyushu and devoted himself to the development of higher education in modern Japan. The Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lectures have been delivered by Yale faculty members in Tokyo since 2013. Articles in this newsletter: