I am Goshi Shirota of Tottori University. I would like to inform you that the 18th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine will be held from Thursday, March 21 to Saturday, March 23, 2019, at the Kobe International Conference Center and the Kobe International Exhibition Hall. I will serve as the president of the Congress.

The theme of the Congress is “Message from the Birthplace of Regenerative Medicine.” This theme is derived from the story of the “White Hare of Inaba” recorded in “Kojiki” (The Records of Ancient Matters), in which Okuninushi-no-mikoto (the Great Land Master) treated and regenerated the injured skin of a white rabbit. Our hope of disseminating the message of “saving patients with regenerative medicine” for the future is conveyed in this theme.

The Congress program will feature mainly three topics. As the first topic, a program by individual organs or a multidisciplinary program, focusing on “treatment,” is planned in line with the theme “Message from the Birthplace of Regenerative Medicine.” Recently, research on treatment with regenerative medicine has been rapidly advancing in various fields. I expect that researchers from many fields will present the achievements of their clinical and basic studies aimed at realizing treatment with regenerative medicine at the Congress. I hope the Congress will help you grasp the advancement of regenerative medicine research and make you look forward to its future.

The second topic is planned regarding the efforts toward the practical use of regenerative medicine in the academic, industrial, administrative, and economic fields. Cooperation among industries, government, and academia is essential for achieving the best practical use of regenerative medicine. We will make all efforts to enhance and accelerate cooperation among these fields, encouraging researchers of many fields to actively present their achievements at the Congress. We will make this Congress an opportunity to hold lively discussions on industrial and consciousness revolutions to energize local communities about regenerative medicine from the perspectives of cooperation with local communities and local revitalization.

As the third topic, an international session in which overseas researchers are invited to participate is planned in order to promote partnerships between the Japanese and overseas regenerative medicine fields.

It will be my great pleasure if, at the Congress through discussions on these topics, you gain an understanding of the advancement of regenerative medicine in Japan and become confident about its bright future.

We will make all efforts so that many participants can enjoy the presentations and discussions at the Congress. I hope you will be joining us.

Goshi Shiota, MD, PhD
Professor, Division of Molecular and Genetic Medicine,
Department of Genetic Medicine and Regenerative Therapeutics,
Graduate School of Medicine, Tottori University