"Department of iPS cell Applications" was established on April 1, 2013. The iPS(induced Pluripotent Stem) cells are strongly expected to be applied to drug discovery, study on disease mechanisms and regenerative medicine because iPS cells are able to proliferate almost infinitely in the laboratory and to differentiate into various types of cells which compose the human body. From the viewpoint of medical science, iPS cells can be one of the most powerful tools in the many fields of medical science. Therefore, making the best use of iPS cells and of the related technologies is considered to be one of the most significant elements for the development of medical science today. Thus, Department of iPS cell Applications was established as a base to promote medical research and development with the use of iPS cells at Kobe University.

Our laboratory has two main aims: "laying the foundation for research and development with the use of iPS cells" and "nurturing of human resources". I believe that in the university, both these tasks should be approached altogether.

Medical science has made such a remarkable progress so far and it seems to have already attained perfection. Therefore, you might feel that another great discovery which would change medical site will not likely to be made in the future. Indeed, I myself felt that way when I was a student 20 years ago. However, it is far from the truth. For example, in the past 20 years, genome analysis technology has made a great progress and the information obtained from it is useful for treating various diseases including cancer. Of course, iPS cell is one of the greatest discoveries.

Needless to say, there still is a mountainous pile of problems that need to be solved in medical science. We often face the fact that we are not able to save our patients no matter how hard we try to cure them with the best possible medical treatment. In that case, should we feel satisfied with our treatment or feel sorry for the patient? This is a critical issue, and I strongly believe that we should feel the latter. In order to turn such our regret into a positive medical approach, it is not sufficient just to learn the knowledge and the technologies that our predecessors had already systemized. Everyone who is involved in medicine should always keep in mind that we are the ones who should make an epoch in medicine.

We have been researching on regenerative medicine and cancer therapy by utilizing iPS cells in our laboratory. We are working on the research hoping that the results of our study will be helpful in medical practice in the future. Although all the members of our laboratory are earnestly tackling their research tasks, most of them are not going to become career researchers. Instead, they are going to play important roles as clinicians or businesspersons in the near future. In other words, they are goint to become users of the inventions and the discoveries made in research institutions such as the university. Their working experiences at our laboratory should be meaningful in many ways. As a result of having been trained how to approach the unsolved questions, they are able to understand accurately the content and the meaning of other researchers' results on the textbooks or the newest journals. They are also able to apply their understandings to their own medical practice and other kind of works effectively. Recently, the connection between advanced fundamental research and clinical medicine has become closer than ever. Not a few interesting papers which include analysis of clinical cases have been featured in the most authoritative basic science journals such as Nature and Science. Therefore, it will be very significant for clinicians to understand the advanced medical science from now on.

Finally, I would like to add a few points. In fact, research itself is enjoyable. Like many other jobs, I believe, it is important to work with excitement and to take on a challenge positively. I sincerely hope that many young people will gather at Department of iPS cell Applications to study and face the challenges with courage. I will try my best to make our laboratory be a great opportunity for youth with passion!