IVReD and the International Institute for Zoonosis Control(IIZC), One Health Research Center(OHRC), and the Graduate School of Infectious Diseases co-hosted an international symposium, “The 12th Consortium Conference for Overcoming Zoonotic Diseases,” on Monday, December 2nd, and Tuesday, December 3rd in a hybrid format at the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine at Hokkaido University.
This symposium aimed to share the research progress of the University of Melbourne (UM), University College Dublin(UCD), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), IVReD, and IIEC and further strengthen the collaborative research partnership between the four universities.
On the first day of December 2nd, Dr.Kiyohiro Houkin who is the president of Hokkaido University had the opening remarks, and then, Professor Hiroshi Kida, the Head of IIZC, gave a Welcome address. We had a ceremony for The 10th anniversary of the consortium meeting with Global Station for Zoonosis Control (GSZ). Since the consortium for the control of zoonotic diseases was established in 2014, Professor Emeritus William Hall and Professor Stephen Gordon of UCD, and Professor Arnab Pain of KAUST have contributed to the promotion of international collaborative research and education with IIZC. They received the plaques of appreciation from Professor Kida. Next, Professor Takada, the director of the IIZC explained the overview of IIZC, after that, Professor Sawas who is the director of the International Collaboration Unit and the director of the IVReD explained the role and overview of the International Collaboration Unit, the significance and purpose of forming a consortium with overseas partner universities, and the research plan for the rapid development and production of vaccines at IVReD, as well as the cooperation and collaboration system with related organizations and companies both inside and outside the university, including the international research and education network.
This was followed by four sessions over two days on Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccine and Host Response, Bacterial Infections, Virus and Prion Infections, and Genome Analysis, with eight overseas researchers from partner universities including Professor Katherine Kedzierska and Professor Elizabeth Hartland from the UM, Professor Gordon from the UCD, Professor Payne from the KAUST, and Professor Mark Stevens from the University of Edinburgh. Including Professor Chie Nakajima and Professor Junya Yamagishi from IIZC, and Prof. Motoi Horiuchi from the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, who presented the progress of their research on zoonotic diseases.
In total, 281 people (270 in person, 11 online) participated in the symposium over the two days, including researchers and graduate students from the IIZC, the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, IVReD, the One Health Research Center, and other institutions, as well as researchers from partner universities overseas. The symposium was a great success, with question and answer sessions and discussions.
The event was also open to graduate students at the International Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, and a total of 123 people attended. It was a valuable opportunity for them to hear cutting-edge research presentations from researchers at the forefront of their fields, and to deepen their knowledge of basic research and social implementation.
【Group Photo】