Global COE (Center of Excellence) Program, a research fund supported by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology (MEXT), is one of the fundamental Japanese national projects for higher education. The Global COE program provides funding support for establishing Centers of Excellence with a distinguished education system and outstanding research activities to elevate the international competitiveness of Japanese universities.

  Based on the research outcomes obtained in our previous COE program (21st Century COE), we proposed a novel 5-year program to reinforce our research and education system at the University of Shizuoka and it was successfully approved by MEXT in the summer of 2007. The program will last until 2012.

  In the previous COE program, we established and developed a new academic field, "human health sciences," to facilitate fruitful research collaboration between food and nutritional sciences and pharmaceutical sciences. Our on-going efforts have made significant contributions to the development and practice of innovative food and drugs required for the maintenance of health. These contributions include important discoveries of how particular foods may alter the effect of specific medicines, of whether or not the long-term intake of certain drugs may affect nutritional states, and of what reciprocal effects food and drugs may have on one another.
 
  We anticipate that our Global COE program will have even greater success. In keeping with Japan's having the longest life-span in the world, the University of Shizuoka supports global research, education, and services in the field of health-longevity science. To this end, our proposal for the Global COE recognizes the need to foster future professionals who exhibit expertise and leadership in the innovative interdisciplinary field which has amalgamated the field of food and nutrition with pharmaceutical science. Furthermore, we intend to produce food and nutritional experts who appreciate the structure and properties of chemical drugs while simultaneously creating pharmaceutical scientists who thoroughly understand nutritional physiology as a vital base for sustaining human life.

Program Director

Professor Naohide KINAE, Vice president of University of Shizuoka

Grad. School of Nutrition and Environmental Sciences (GNES,  Link )

• Toshinao GODA (Prof.)
  
• Mamoru ISEMURA (Prof.)
  
• Kimiko KOBAYASHI (Assoc. Prof.)
• Hirokazu KOBAYASHI (Prof., Dean)
• Hiromichi KUMAGAI  (Prof.)
  
• Tsutomu NAKAYAMA (Prof.)
  
• Norio OHASHI  (Prof.)
  
• Hiroshi OHSHIMA (Prof.)
• Kayoko SHIMOI (Prof.)
  
• Hidehiko YOKOGOSHI (Prof.)
  
• Tatsuo WATANABE  (Prof.)
  

Grad. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (GPS,  Link )

• Masakuni DEGAWA (Prof.)
  
• Yasuyuki IMAI (Prof., Dean)
  
• Toshiyuki KAN (Prof.)
  
• Hiroshi NOGUCHI (Prof.)
  
• Naoto OKU (Prof.)
  
• Junko SUGATANI (Prof.)
  
• Takashi SUZUKI  (Prof.)
  
• Yasuo SUZUKI (Prof.)
  
• Atsushi TAKEDA (Assoc. Prof.)
  
• Toshimasa TOYO'OKA (Prof.)
  
• Shizuo YAMADA (Prof.)

Center for Language and Communication ( Link )

• Noriko YOSHIMURA (Prof., Grad. School of International Relations)

  The University of Shizuoka Global COE for Innovation in Human Health Sciences will not only educate future scientists who understand the multidisciplinary concepts and technologies of the interactions of medicine and food, but will also ensure that these future scientists can solve serious socio-medical problems such as the application of combined uses of food and drugs in health and medicine for the aging society.

  We will introduce a Ph.D. program to further facilitate our on-going interdisciplinary research and education in health-longevity science. This plan will enhance:

1. the fostering of future scientists in both food and nutritional sciences and pharmaceutical sciences
   
   
2. the cultivation of knowledge and innovative technology in human health sciences, based on advice from a group of professionals who previously researched separately, but now-collaborate
   
   
3. the creation of professionals who will become leaders in industry and regulatory agencies
   
   
4. the nurturing of clinical pharmacists and clinical dietitians who, as eminent professionals, provide guidance and instruction concerning food and nutrition as well as pharmaceutical scientists who command a deep understanding of the amalgamated field of food, nutrition, and medicine.

   With the intention of enhancing their international linguistic abilities, our Global COE Project will offer a series of workshops on how to prepare and deliver quality scientific presentations in English for those students who need to improve their proficiency in global scientific communication. After this on-campus language training, some students will have the opportunity to go to the Ohio State University to participate in a study abroad program specifically designed for our Global COE. This program will include classroom language study, interaction with academic counterparts, as well as the option of enrolling in graduate-level science courses.

1. Elucidation of the Mechanisms of Drug-Functional Food Interactions, and Database Construction
At the University of Shizuoka Global COE we are conducting clinical trials to test the efficacy and safety of functional foods and are establishing the optimum dosage regimens of functional food constituents in combination with drugs. We are constructing a database of drug-functional food interactions, based on domestic and other trials. This database will contribute to an effective integration of laboratory research results and clinical requirements, clarification of the mechanisms of drug-functional food interactions, a broadening of therapeutic options through the utilization of synergistic effects, and the avoidance of adverse effects of drugs and functional foods.

2. Development of Functional Food and the Effective Use of Undeveloped Resources after Food Processing
Our integrated research perspectives spanning pharmaceutical, food and nutritional sciences focus on the following issues: a) the search for medicinal seeds from food materials, b) the development of functional food containing edible antibodies aiming at oral passive immunization, and c) the prevention of cancer and allergic diseases through appropriate food choices. Here, some of Shizuoka's local specialties, tea tree seeds, tangerine orange peels and zest, and wasabi (Wasabia japonica) leaves are being utilized as representative undeveloped resources.

3. The Search for New Biomarkers and the Development of Methods for Evaluating the Safety of Food and Medicine
We are searching for new biomarkers for lifestyle-related and other diseases by employing high-throughput technology which enables us to perform comprehensive analyses of whole intermediate metabolites in the body, a method referred to as 'metabolic profiling.' Molecular probes such as catechin derivatives are used for screening biomarkers. We are also establishing standardized methods for the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of both the efficacy and safety of functional food factors both in vitro and in vivo.

4. The Creation and Development of Practical Science Related to the Health and Longevity
The validity of selected biomarkers signaling the risks of lifestyle-related diseases are being investigated in animal models and in human subjects for application to clinical trials. To evaluate and monitor the efficacy of individualized food selection in combination with drug use, 'individual metabolic profiling' data is being collected and analyzed. This approach serves as the basis for personalized dietary and drug dosage regimens, taking into account the individual's metabolic state and genetic background.



Key Characteristics of the Global COE program at the University of Shizuoka

  The most original characteristic of the University of Shizuoka Global COE is the multidisciplinary integration of three major aspects of scientific knowledge-food sciences responsible for the production and safety of food, nutritional sciences based upon physiology, and pharmaceutical sciences pertaining to the discovery, production and utilization of medicine. For example, in our original COE organization, more than thirty scientists in our two graduate schools jointly conducted various collaborative research projects on egreen tea.f One of the best-known products of Shizuoka Prefecture, green tea has been investigated to reveal its various functions – including antimutation, antioxidation, antiviral, and antibacterial functions– and its effects against various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, and allergies.  

  Based on the results of their studies, the Global COE researchers are continuing to make important contributions towards future discoveries of the reciprocal effects of food and medicine: the combined effect (whether positive or negative) of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) and antidiabetic drugs, GBE and sleeping pills, the effect of saw palmetto extract (SPE) on the treatment of overactive bladder, and the effects of wasabi as an antibiotic effective against Helicobacter pylori. Our on-going research has also been engaged in the discovery and application of the effective features of fruits and vegetables such as citruses and wasabi to the improvement of human health. These and other fruitful projects which were initiated under the original COE scheme have been expanded and supplemented under the current Global COE.

• MEXT Global COE Program
  
• MEXT
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
  

• University of Shizuoka
  
  
• Graduate School of Nutritional and Environmental Sciences
• Dept of Food and Nutritional Sciences
• Dept of Environmental Health Sciences
  
  
• Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Division of Medicinal Sciences
• Division of Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences
  
  
• Graduate School of International Relations
  
• Center for Language and Communication
  
  
• Shizuoka Prefecture (the municipal  government)
• Education and Research in Shizuoka
  

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