21st Grant

I gave an oral presentation at the 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences held in Kobe, titled "Elucidation of binding parameters and binding sites of cefmetazole to human serum albumin and evaluation of predicted free concentrations using binding parameters." CMZ is an antibiotic with a high protein binding rate. Research on protein binding is important for establishing administration methods that ensure efficacy and safety and for elucidating pharmacokinetics, but the binding parameters and binding sites have not been fully clarified. In this study, we clarified the binding parameters and binding sites of CMZ and evaluated the predicted free concentration calculated from the total concentration using the binding parameters. Through Scatchard analysis and competitive displacement tests using site-marker drugs, we revealed that CMZ binds to Subdomain IB on albumin with high affinity. It was shown that the free concentration can be predicted with high accuracy by using the binding parameters. I received many valuable opinions and questions from the professors, which allowed me to deepen my thoughts on the future development of my research. In addition, through the symposia and poster presentations, I was able to learn about many insights and research as a pharmacist in clinical settings, which I hope to utilize in my future research activities. Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support as a research incentive fund for my participation in this conference.

(Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy, 6th Year / Ryusei Hara) 

I gave a poster presentation at the 53rd Symposium on Structure-Activity Relationships held at Kindai University on the theme of "Improving the accuracy of PPI inhibitory activity prediction models through data imbalance correction."

For drug discovery targeting protein-protein interactions (PPI), we examined a framework for predicting the inhibitory activity of medium-sized molecules using machine learning. The target was the Keap1/Nrf2 complex involved in oxidative stress response. To address the practical challenge of having scarce activity data and a large amount of inactivity data, we constructed a classification model combining Random Forest with SMOTE. We performed nested cross-validation to ensure reproducibility and evaluated the model using indicators such as Recall and Cohen’s κ. The results showed that while the recall of the minority class (active) and overall identification performance improved, the specificity of inactive data could decrease depending on the threshold setting. At the venue, active discussions were held regarding feature interpretation, threshold optimization, and the necessity of "chemically grounded" expansion using generative AI such as ChemTS, which led to the concretization of future improvement policies (connecting candidate molecule generation with experimental verification).

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support in promoting this research.

(Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2nd Year / Yixuan Sui)

I participated in the Asian Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology (ACPE) 2025 held in Hong Kong and gave a poster presentation titled "Validation of diagnostic coding for chronic kidney disease using Japanese hospital-based database."

When conducting research on chronic kidney disease using medical big data, it is important that the reliability of the "chronic kidney disease" diagnosis name in the database is guaranteed. However, the reliability of the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes for chronic kidney disease in Japan, such as examining the positive predictive value (PPV) using the estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR), had not been investigated. In this study, we calculated the PPV, sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of disease name codes related to chronic kidney disease using a new method that utilizes a hospital-based medical information database containing insurer data and clinical laboratory data from over 1,000 medical institutions across Japan. As a result, several ICD-10 codes showed high PPV, providing findings that contribute to improving the quality of chronic kidney disease research using medical big data.

I was selected for a Spotlight poster this time, and through the presentation, I had a valuable opportunity to discuss my research with researchers from all over the world. Interacting with overseas researchers allowed me to gain new perspectives and was very stimulating. In addition, listening to research presentations in related fields allowed me to deepen my knowledge, making it a very meaningful time.

Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support in my participation in this conference.

(Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Doctoral Programs 1st Year / Momoha Kono)

I gave an oral presentation at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Cancer Association titled "Analysis of miRNA Expression Changes Induced by KrasG12D Mutant Cells in Pancreatic Ductal Progenitor Cells."

Pancreatic cancer is known for its low survival rate and poor prognosis, making innovative early diagnosis and treatment technologies an urgent matter. Furthermore, there have been multiple reports that cancer can be diagnosed by type with high accuracy even at early stages by utilizing differences in miRNA profiles in the serum of cancer patients and healthy individuals, raising expectations for clinical application. Therefore, I focused on the KRAS mutation, which is the most common mutation in pancreatic cancer and is seen from the early stages of PanIN, a major precancerous lesion. In this study, we performed an integrated analysis of miRNA-seq data from a co-culture model of pancreatic ductal progenitor cells established from mice and human serum miRNA-seq data. The results suggested that there are miRNAs whose expression changes not only due to the mutation itself but also due to the coexistence of normal cells and mutant cells.

Through participation in this conference, I was able to encounter a wide range of cutting-edge research in cancer research, which was a great stimulus for my future research activities. Additionally, it was my first time presenting my research, but I received questions from many professors after the presentation, and it was a valuable opportunity to gain new perspectives through active discussion.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support for my participation and presentation at this conference.

(Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Major in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Master's Program 1st Year / Yuto Oshima)

I participated in the ESMO Congress 2025 and gave a poster presentation titled "Long-term survival benefit of adjuvant therapy with S-1 or gemcitabine after resection of biliary tract cancer."

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the development of personalized medicine by using C-CAT (Center for Cancer Genomics and Advanced Therapeutics), Japan's largest cancer genome and clinical database, to integrally analyze comprehensive genomic information and clinical outcomes and multifaceted evaluation of the real-world effectiveness of adjuvant therapy in biliary tract cancer. Recently, the Japan-led ASCOT trial demonstrated the effectiveness of S-1 adjuvant therapy, but large-scale validation using real-world data (RWD) was limited. In this study, we utilized nationwide RWD to verify the effectiveness of adjuvant therapy and clarified the relationship between genetic abnormalities and treatment effects.

On the day of the presentation, I received several questions from overseas researchers, including those from the United States and China, and was able to engage in an active exchange of opinions. I received extremely beneficial comments for proceeding with future paper publication and additional analysis. Furthermore, I was able to directly grasp the latest research trends in the same field, which allowed me to reconfirm the direction of my own research and served as an opportunity to consider new perspectives and analysis methods. In particular, I felt that analysis combining genetic abnormalities and clinical outcomes using C-CAT is attracting international attention, and I felt a strong possibility of contributing to the future development of research.

I will continue to work harder to create and disseminate more impactful research results by utilizing the knowledge and interactions gained this time.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support for my participation and presentation at this conference.

(Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Doctoral Programs 1st Year / Kazuki Iida)

I participated in the Asian Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences Conference (AFPS) 2025 held at The University of Sydney from December 3 to December 5, 2025, and gave a research presentation titled "Identification of Syncytiotrophoblast-Specific Transporter Genes and Their Protein Expression in Mouse Placenta." AFPS has been held biennially since 2007 and serves as an important venue for promoting the sharing of research results and international exchange in the field of Pharmaceutics (Division of), primarily in Asia. This was the 9th academic conference held.

Many transporters are expressed in the Syncytiotrophoblast (SynT), functioning as a barrier that controls the transfer of substances between the mother and fetus. In human and rodent SynT, transporters that play an important role in fetal growth are conserved across species. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify transporters that are commonly and specifically expressed in SynT across species and to evaluate protein localization in the mouse placenta. At this conference, I was able to present findings on the identification of SynT-specific genes based on RNA-seq analysis, the evaluation of protein localization in the placenta, and the physiological roles played by the identified transporters. Additionally, I attended the conference for the full duration and learned new insights into placental research by listening to research presentations on various approaches using different tools such as 3D organoids. In particular, during the poster presentation, I discussed species differences between humans and mice and transporter functions with researchers from Japan and abroad. Deepening these interactions led to an increase in motivation for my own research, making it a very meaningful opportunity.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for their generous support for my participation in this conference.

(Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Major in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Master's Program 1st Year / Kurumi Inagaki)

I participated in the "Asian Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (AFPS) Conference 2025" held at the University of Sydney, Australia, from December 3 to 5, 2025, and gave a poster presentation titled "Single-Cell Transcriptomic Analysis of Wnt/β-Catenin-mediated Differentiation Pathways in Mouse Trophoblast Stem Cells." AFPS is an academic organization aimed at the development and cooperation of pharmaceutical research in the Asian region, and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Japan also participates as a constituent organization. Researchers from various countries gathered for this 9th conference.

Mouse trophoblast stem (mTS) cells have the ability to differentiate into various cells that constitute the placenta. Among them, the syncytiotrophoblast layer II (SynT-II) functions as a barrier that controls the transfer of substances to the fetus, so selective differentiation induction into SynT-II is extremely important in constructing a placental drug permeation evaluation system. In this study, we used Single Cell RNA sequence to analyze the effect of activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, which is essential for SynT-II differentiation in vivo, on the differentiation lineage of mTS cells.

On the day of the presentation, I was able to exchange discussions with many researchers. In particular, receiving new suggestions for analysis methods and sharp questions looking toward clinical application from overseas researchers was a very meaningful opportunity to reconsider my research results from multiple perspectives. Furthermore, through interaction in an international setting, the challenges I currently lack became clear, and I gained a great opportunity to grow as a researcher. I intend to continue to devote myself to research activities, using the knowledge and experience gained at this conference as a foundation.

Finally, my participation in this conference was made possible by the generous support from Sato Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude. Thank you very much.

(Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Doctoral Programs 1st Year / Takuro Ishinabe)