On August 17, 2016 at 11:00-12:00 hr.



Research at CADIC, Miyazaki University: Collaborative Research and Opportunities for Trop. Med. Students

On August 17th 2016, Dr Tamaki Okabayashi gave a lunch talk titled “Research at CADIC, Miyazaki University: Collaborative Research and Opportunities for Trop. Med. Students”. For many attendees the talk was not only an opportunity to learn but also an opportunity to catch up with Dr Okabayashi, who used to be a key member of the Mahidol-Osaka Center for Infectious Diseases (MOCID) based at the Faculty.

Now at Miyazaki University, Dr Okabayashi is a member of Department of Veterinary Medicine and also the Center for Animal Disease Control (CADIC). In his talk he introduced the university and the prefecture but the focus was on the formation, role and priorities of CADIC.

CADIC has two main aims – to protect lives from transboundary and zoonotic disease threats and to support communities and citizens to tackle animal disease problems. To achieve these aims CADIC works across a range of areas. These include an R&D focus on disease diagnosis and control systems and a strong push for cooperation and collaboration with other institutions to promote knowledge transfer. Dr Okabayashi explained that CADIC was, in part formed, because Miyazaki prefecture is an agricultural center of Japan, producing large amounts of pork, beef and chicken.

Dr Okabayashi highlighted a few of the diseases that CADIC works on. These include foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), respiratory disease complex and diarrheal syndrome. He explained FMD is a particular concern as a 2010 outbreak in Japan severely affected the livestock industry causing approximately 3 billion USD in losses. The outbreak made clear that quicker diagnosis methods were needed; something CADIC is now working on.

Towards the end of his talk, Dr Okabayashi described the objectives and hopes of Thailand-Japan collaboration on animal disease control. He explained there was funding available to promote innovation and knowledge sharing, including the setting up of a microbial database, academic exchanges and specialist training programs. He also described the “Sakura Science Program” which funds and facilitates student and young researcher visits to Japanese universities. The Program is full for now, but Dr Okabayashi encouraged people to apply next year.

We thank Dr Okabayashi for providing this interesting and informative talk and for establishing and promoting collaborations with Mahidol University and other institutions in Thailand.

More information about the Sakura Science Program can be found here - http://www.ssp.jst.go.jp/EN/outline/index.html

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