Program Overview

Program Overview

Background

The “Compass to Healthy Life” Research Complex program proposed by RIKEN as the core organization, together with Hyogo Prefecture, the city of Kobe, Kyoto University, Kobe University, the University of Hyogo and 9 other universities and research institutions, and Hankyu Hanshin Holdings and 30 other private enterprises and organizations, has been accepted under the Research Complex program launched by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) in 2015 to establish world-leading regional research, development and testing hubs. The Research Complex program aims to bring together research institutions, private industry, universities and other organizations in a given region to create an ecosystem for promoting innovation through cooperation between member organizations on interdisciplinary and integrated cutting-edge research and development, commercialization of research outcomes, and development of human resources. In this Research Complex program, in addition to joint research and development, every effort will be made to build an international hub for health sciences-related business by establishing mechanisms for generating and supporting the rapid implementation of new business ideas and nurturing entrepreneurs.

Overview

The “Compass to Healthy Life” Research Complex aims to serve as a “compass” to help people lead healthier and more fulfilling lives by developing a “virtual-self” tool that will offer accurate guidance for better maintaining and promoting health. To this end, we are bringing together leading researchers from RIKEN and other research institutes and universities both in Japan and overseas at the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (an advanced medical technology R&D hub) to combine life sciences, nanotechnology, measurement science, and device and computer sciences in a way that advances our understanding of the human body and enables the building of a computer-based virtual-self tool that people can use to predict their future health status.

Outlook

The new knowledge and data obtained through this initiative will serve as a substantial foundation for health-related industries and lead to the development of new services and products in various industries. In addition to joint research and development, every effort will be made to build an international hub for health sciences-related business by establishing mechanisms for generating and supporting the rapid implementation of new business ideas and nurturing entrepreneurs.

In the media

Symposium press coverage

(Yomiuri Shimbun May 13 edition (Osaka HQ morning edition) carried an article on the symposium held on April 12 to mark the launch of the “Compass to Healthy Life” Research Complex program.

The online version of the article is available here.

Symposium press coverage

NHK Kobe Broadcasting Station April 12, 2016
The “launch of a new program in the field of healthcare” was discussed on the News KOBE Hatsu program

Symposium press coverage

Kobe Shimbun April 13, 2016 morning edition
Symposium held in Kobe to promote health science-related business development

Special press announcement by the Mayor of Kobe on November 26, 2015

Announcing acceptance of proposal for world-leading regional research, development, and testing hub (Research Complex program)

Special press announcement by the Mayor of Kobe on November 26, 2015, including a description of the project by Yasuyoshi Watanabe, Director of the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies and research leader for this program