On 16th December 2018.Dr Kazunori Kume left for London to conduct collaborative research with Dr Paul Nurse’s group in the Francis Crick Institute. He will stay there April 2019.（Dr kazunori Kume , a member of HiHA and also JSPS-funded Program for Advancing Strategic International Networks to Accelerate the Circulation of Talented Researchers (S2902) )

The beautiful scene from Corvallis

Yosi Nindita

I am a visiting researcher in Dr. Taifo Mahmud’s laboratory in College of Pharmacy, Oregon State University (OSU), supported by JSPS foundation under Program for Fostering Globally Talented Researchers. My current research attempt to develop a new method to detect silent secondary metabolites from soil bacteria Streptomyces.

I came to Corvallis, Oregon on June 2018. It was Summer, and though the temperature can reach to 35°C, the weather is much nicer than Summer in Japan.

Corvallis is recognized as a Tree city and has around 45 public parks. We can also enjoy varieties of trees and flower with a carpet of green grass all across campus. Season changed to Fall, and the whole town became more beautiful with colorful leaves.

Corvallis is a small college town with population only around 54 thousand. That’s being said, the people here are friendly and care much about the environment. During Spring through Fall, they held Farmer’s Market twice a week in downtown. They sell organic vegetables, fruits, even handmade food.

OSU, founded in 1868, is the biggest university in Oregon, with around 32,000 students enrolled. This year, OSU is celebrating their 150 years anniversary. As a research university, OSU is equipped with advanced methods and technology.

OSU has a lot of successful and famous alumni. One of the most famous one is Linus Carl Pauling. He is the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes, for Chemistry (1954) and for Peace (1962). He co-founded the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) in 1973 to carry out research in health. In 1996, LPI moved to OSU, Corvallis campus. Pauling’s family later trust OSU to take care of his belonging, from his desk, board, notes, even both of the Nobel Prizes. Unfortunately, when I visit Linus Pauling’s office in the Valley library, they only display the replicas of the Nobel Prize.

I am really grateful and lucky to have an opportunity to come to OSU. I still have many things to catch up for my research, and I hope I can tell about it in the next article.

Winter and Summer in Boston

Research assistant professor Takashi Fujimura

I study for ‘inflammation and healthy aging’ at Boston Children’s Hospital associated with Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA as a visiting research scientist at Dr. Michiko Oyoshi’s laboratory, from February 2018.  I thank JSPS foundation, named Program for Fostering Globally Talented Researchers, giving me the opportunity to join scientific research at Boston.

     I had heard that Boston is tremendously cold in winter before I left Japan, however, fortunately when I arrived at Boston, I had fine warm days for a while.  I thought that Boston’s winter is not so severe as I had heard, similar in Saijo (where Hiroshima University is).  However, 2 weeks after then, there was severe blizzard in Boston area and I was going freezing and afraid might be a victim of this snow storm during my way from my laboratory to home.  I realized the temperature during winter in Boston is much lower than that in Saijo and Boston has much snowing.

     On the other hand, summer is so hot in Boston, but better than that in Japan because of lower humidity.  However, I feel sun shine and ultraviolet lays are so strong in Boston maybe due to its high latitude.  Appearance in Boston’s summer is totally different from that in winter, we can see many flowers aside of roads and in gardens.

Interestingly, we have chance to meet wild turkey, squirrel, rabbit, and goose during walking in longwood area.

Around my living place is full of nature.  Boston is excellent place for living and scientific research except very high prices and in winter.

     Here, I introduced climate in Boston.  I will have topics for my research life in Boston next time.  Thank you.

Professor Takahiro Chihara, a core member of HiHA and also JSPS-funded Program for Advancing Strategic International Networks to Accelerate the Circulation of Talented Researchers (S2902), met Dr Liqun Luo (Professor at Stanford University) and held a discussion about their research projects. They have been collaborating with each other regarding olfactory perception and lifespan regulation using Drosophila. They agreed to continue collaboration and make a closer interaction by exchanging information and personnels.