Professor Greeting

　Thank you for visiting the website of the Department of Pharmacology, Graduate School of Medical, Dental and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokushima I am Ikeda, and I have been leading the Department since August 2020.

　It has already been three years since I became a professor. This year, four third-year medical students have joined us for medical research training, making our classroom even more lively than usual. All of us in the classroom are now even more motivated to pursue our research. We hope that they can experience the real thrill of basic research even if only a little.

　Regarding research, we were able to publish a paper (Suenaga and Ikeda, et al. J Pharmacil Sci. 2023) on the inhibitory effect of Kampo medicine on chronic kidney disease, which was conducted with the students assigned to our laboratory last year. Dr. Funamoto was promoted to Associate Professor in April. I expect him to play an even more active role as a front runner in pharmacological research not only in our department but also in the next generation of pharmacology. He is an indispensable and valuable asset to the field of pharmacology, including classroom management and student education. In addition, he is actively providing guidance not only to himself but also to students in terms of research. As for his publications, he published a review of epigenetics of cardiac remodeling (Front. Cardiovasc Med. 2023) as a summary of his research to date. He has also published a number of interesting findings on various projects he has initiated since his appointment to this department. We expect that he will contribute to the further development of research in our department. In addition, Dr. Hidenori Yasuda arrived from Niigata University in January. Dr. Yasuda is a graduate of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and we expect that he will further enhance the diversity of our department and contribute to the development of our research.

　Regarding education, as in the past, we continue to offer lectures based on horizontal and vertical collaborative education that transcends the boundaries between basic and clinical medicine, with the generous cooperation of many professors from the Departments of Physiology, Neuropsychiatry, Hematology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In addition, this year we invited Dr. Toshihiko Yanagida of Miyazaki University (visiting professor in our department) to conduct a new trial of pharmacology role-play practice. This provided an opportunity to learn pharmacology practically from the standpoints of physicians, patients/family members, and third parties, which could not be obtained through classroom lectures. Next year, we plan to conduct a multi-faculty role-play training with the participation of pharmacy students. We hope this will be an opportunity to learn about multidisciplinary collaboration through pharmacology.

　Regarding practical training, we conduct basic medical integration training jointly with the four fields of cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology. In the pharmacology practical training, a web simulator has been introduced to enable reproducible and active practice. This simulator is used jointly with the School of Dentistry and the School of Pharmacy, and we hope to create a new form of education that transcends the boundaries between faculties. With the conclusion of the corona disaster, face-to-face lectures and practical training have finally become possible, and we hope to make use of the new educational format that we have developed during the three years of the corona disaster.

　In pharmacology, students learn about drug treatment, including understanding of pathological conditions, based on the knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology learned in the second year. Pharmacology is a bridge from basic medicine to clinical medicine, as there is no treatment of any disease without the use of drugs. Physicians have prescribing authority and are responsible for the prescribing of drugs. We hope that students will learn how to study for life, not just to pass an exam, but for the future. In addition, knowledge of "drugs" is essential for healthcare professionals. If you are interested in doing research that can contribute to medicine through pharmacology, please contact us.

　Two graduate students and four medical r students will join us in April. The classroom will become even more lively.

　The University of Tokushima is one of the few universities in Japan that focus on training medical researchers. Academic background and age have nothing to do with research. If you are interested, please contact us. Words cannot express the excitement I feel when I discover new findings in my research (Eureka). I would like you to experience that excitement. There is nothing difficult at all. It all depends on your motivation. Let's work together to make new discoveries!

​

（2023.８.１、2023.9.17、2024.1.1、2024.1.30 revised)