On April 1, 2013, I was appointed as a professor at the Health Promotion System Science Laboratory, Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University. Professor Hiroshi Mikae, the previous professor, was a senior. He trained many excellent medical professionals and made several long-term care insurance and medical care achievements for older people. We will continue to inherit the tradition of the research and work hard to further development.
After graduating from Kochi Medical University in 1990, I joined the Department of Geriatrics Medicine, Osaka University School of Medicine. After organized clinical training at Osaka University Hospital and Osaka Prefectural Adult Disease Center No. 1 (Cardiovascular) Internal Medicine, I was engaged in research related to the causes of hypertension complications such as cardiac hypertrophy and arteriosclerosis in the Hypertension laboratory. Clinical and basic research has revealed that insulin resistance, which is now considered to be very important as a fundamental disease of diabetes and metabolic syndrome, is associated with cardiac hypertrophy and arteriosclerosis caused by hypertension. Besides, I have studied and reported the deep involvement of the organization Renin-Angiotensin system as a mechanism at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, where I studied abroad. After returning to Japan, I was assigned to the Department of Hypertension and Nephrology at the National Cardiovascular Research Center, where the Millennium Genome Project was launched at the time. I jointly explained several new genetic predispositions correlated with hypertension with the Institute's professors in addition to conducting clinical work. In 2009, I returned to Osaka University and started a long-term longitudinal SONIC study called “SONIC study” for the older people in collaboration with professors from the Faculty of Human Sciences and the Faculty of Dentistry elucidate health and longevity influences. We believe that this study can provide a strong argument that will contribute to an improvement in the direction of medical care for older people in the long run and the amount of independent health and longevity for older people. In the future, I think the Department of Health Sciences will develop medical professionals who will play a central role in medical care in Japan and conduct research that can contribute to the advancement of medical care in a super-aging society. In our laboratory, we will explore health and longevity research to disseminate research that can contribute to the development of more efficient and effective systems necessary for future medical care, along with preventive care and home care, not only in Japan but also internationally. If you are interested in such research, please visit our laboratory.
Best regards,
Professor Kei KAMIDE
September 12, 2013
Graduate School of Medicine,
Osaka University
