Cluster Program
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Cluster VIsion We will establish a " world-class clinical and research center for diabetes" that allows us to conduct cutting-edge research and development, and tackle the regional and global urgent needs to "overcome diabetes" by comprehensively applying various achievements to date and fully capitalizing on regional advantages, such as the accumulation of prestigious institutes with high level research and development background, companies with advanced manufacturing technology, leading pharmaceutical companies, and many medical doctors on a population basis, compared with other prefectures.  Project OverView Toward the end of the First Phase of Knowledge Cluster Initiative in the Tokushima region, we have focused our attention on research and development to overcome lifestyle-related diseases, including diabetes, and have simultaneously striven to overcome the latter, e.g. by recruiting internationally-renowned diabetes researchers to institutions in our area and establishing and managing the "Prefectural Conference to Overcome Diabetes" in Tokushima and the "Clinical Research Center for Diabetes” at the Tokushima University Hospital. In this project, research departments and clinical departments will collaborate, as planned at the "Research and Clinical Development Center for Diabetes”, a newly-formed center in the University of Tokushima to conduct basic, translational and clinical research on diabetes and its complications, which will foster comprehensive and systematic research. We will also evolve past efforts into integrated approaches (from genes to organs) by exploiting proteomics/genomics techniques. Ultimately, we will target the development of revolutionary diagnostic and treatment methods with a focus on the pathogenesis of diabetes. Industry, academia, and government are striving comprehensively to facilitate the strategic commercialization of research outcomes in order to create a wide range of healthcare industries, including testing and diagnostic devices, foods, pharmaceutical materials, and related healthcare services. Taking on the challenge of establishing a " world-class clinical and research center for diabetes" The number of people affected by diabetes in Japan, including those in a pre-diabetic condition, is 22.1 million and globally 248 million. These figures have been rapidly growing. In particular, “Asian diabetes” (one type of diabetes particularly affecting the Asian population, where insulin deficiency becomes apparent without remarkable obesity/insulin resistance), which will dramatically expand in coming decades, is a major issue within Asia, including Japan. In the Tokushima region, research and development will mainly be pursued by universities in the area, which will closely collaborate with other research institutes both nationally and internationally. Their achievements will be seamlessly transferred to the industries and the potential of Tokushima region will be drawn out sufficiently. Accordingly, we provide diabetes-related services and products and establish a globally pre-eminent clinical and research center for diabetes. To achieve this goal, ideas, measures, approaches, etc. transcending the traditional social framework, sectionalism, vision, and similar are needed. We will establish a cluster that befits the new era.  Project Director Shigetada Hamao |
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