November 24,2022
Hokkaido University delegates visit to the University of Melbourne
Following the Virtual Conference on Healthy Ageing held in March, the University of Melbourne (UM) visit to Hokkaido University (HU) in June, and the establishment of a collaborative fund to support joint research workshops, HU delegates including President Houkin and executive Vice Presidents Yokota and Masuda visited the UM from 21st to 23rd November in 2022 to further develop strategic research partnerships.
Professor Kida and Dr. Sekiya from the International Institute for Zoonosis Control (IIZC) were invited as HU delegates, as Professor Kida is the pre-eminent researcher in HU and has been collaborating with Professor Brown in the UM since 1982. Dr. Sekiya studied microbiology and immunology as a Ph.D. student at Professor Jackson’s laboratory in the UM, and he has also taken an important role as a bridge between the two universities in research collaborations.
On the first night, the HU delegates were invited to a welcome dinner at Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell ’s residence. The following day, they attended site visits and had meetings with researchers in the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity: a collaborator of the IIZC. They also visited the Bio21 Institute, Melbourne Connect, the Melbourne Centre for Cities, Melbourne Climate Futures, and the Faculties of Science, Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. During the session on an overview of the progress of research collaborations, Professor Kida gave a presentation on the history of our collaborations and the establishment of, and future plan for, the new research entity, the Institute for Vaccine Research and Development (IVReD) of HU. Professor Kida and Dr. Sekiya had a meaningful time discussing with Professor Kedzierska and researchers in her laboratory regarding plans for vaccine development. Professors Jackson and Brown, and Dr. Chua in the UM who are GI-CoRE affiliated researchers in the International Collaboration Unit of the IIZC, joined the discussion to give advice and support on the new project. It is expected that this visit will lead us to further research development and a deepened relationship between the two Universities.
