A grant to members of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland to participate in a major meeting of the Japanese Society of Pathology in Osaka

A travel grant to six UK participants in a major international Oxford-Kobe Seminar on ‘Research in Uterine Biology’. With increasing awareness amongst the scientific community in Japan of women’s health issues the Seminar brought together world leaders in the field of uterine biology to discuss novel routes to the next generation of drugs to treat uterine disorders

A grant to allow Dr Alan Thomson at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and University of Aberdeen, to visit Gifu and Hirosaki Medical Schools to share best practice in Medical Education. Dr Thomson, who is an anaesthetist by training, delivered two well-attended lectures as well as informally touring both schools and meeting students and the teaching faculty. It is hoped that this initial trip will pave the way for future exchanges in medical education between Aberdeen and Japan.

Funding towards a major research project between Aston University and Hosei University on an internet based melanoma screening system

A grant towards  an investigation into invertebrates as a source of protein drugs between Dr Alan Tunnacliffe of the Institute of Biotechnology, Cambridge University and Dr M Yoshimi, of the Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Science “we envisage the development of new medicines for the treatment of, for example, infectious diseases or cancer. The impact of even a single successful new drug will … be widespread and considerable for human and animal health.” (Tunnacliffe)

Our grant helped Mr Zhe XU, a PhD student at Bristol University, to spend a month with Dr Yoshiro Sohma at Osaka University. During this time he used computer modelling techniques to better understand how cystic fibrosis disrupts chloride transport in the body. As well as investigating ways to deal with this genetic illness Mr Xu also helped strengthen ties between Osaka Medical College and Bristol University.

Zhe Xu with Dr Sohma and collaborators at Osaka Medical College

Our Butterfield Awards cover all aspects of medicine and health, from clinical practice to art and design for healing.
Examples of recent grants made under this Programme were:

Japan and the UK share common problems posed by an ageing population For a long time Japan has been at the forefront of ‘universal’ design – making design and technology more accessible to all . A Butterfield Award allowed Professor Alastair Macdonald of the Glasgow School of Art and Professor Monte Cassim from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, to work together to research ways  in which the quality of life for the elderly within the healthcare system through person-centric design and technological interventions might be improved.

The Toyota Porte: an inclusive vehicle, marked as a lifestyle car accommodating a broad of users’ needs including wheel-chair users. Photo: Alastair Macdonald.

Dr Tony Johnson, Sheffield Dental School and Professor Takanobu Shiraishi, Nagasaki Dental School developed their joint research on dental alloys and dental glass ceramics through a Butterfield Award. The award allowed reciprocal visits between Nagasaki and Sheffield and has led to other staff members in the two institutions developing new collaborative partnerships.

Cardiovascular disease is a main cause of death in the UK and Japan and is often linked to obesity. Research by Dr Masashi Miyashita, Tsukuba University and Dr David Stensel, Loughborough University focused on a hunger stimulating hormone, ghrelin to see what link there is between exercise and appetite suppression. They also theorised that it is in fact the energy expended during exercise which is more important than the time spent exercising. They hope that their research will help in formulating guidelines related to physical activity recommendations for health, especially the reduction of cardiovascular disease risk.

Research into schizophrenia has shown that the risk of illness is increased among relatives of affected individuals, which suggests a genetic factor. Dr Masashi Ikeda of Fujita Health University worked with colleagues at Cardiff University to try and isolate a schizophrenia susceptibility gene. A large scale genome-wide association study of both UK and Japan population sets has highlighted several promising susceptibility genes. It is hoped that this research may help in the development of more effective drugs for schizophrenic patients.