Makoto Suematsu has been the President of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) since it was established in April 2015. Having been a medical researcher himself in the areas of gas biology and microcirculatory physiology, he knows from experience the importance of collaboration in research. Suematsu sees international collaboration as critical for accelerating research. One way AMED is seeking to promote such collaboration is by encouraging international researchers to review grant proposals.© Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
What is AMED and how was it established?
Before AMED was born five years ago, the system for funding medical research in Japan was split into three different tracks that involved different ministries. It was too complicated for researchers. So to fast track medical R&D in Japan, the government decided to unify the three funding streams into a single system.
What is your vision for AMED?
My vision is to fast track the development of medical R&D products that can save patients and families. There are many different players and stakeholders, and we need to catalyze the process. There is a huge diversity in medical research; it covers fields such as regenerative medicine, cancer, and drug development. It is critical to fast track the different processes to get outcomes to patients and families as fast as possible. For example, developing a new drug is a bit like a relay race in that it involves multiple stages and runners. We need to shorten the gap between the runners so that we can develop products as rapidly as possible.
Since AMED was established what have been some of the highlights in terms of research outputs or initiatives?
We have chosen to focus on two projects in particular. One is to save patients who suffer from rare diseases. This program, called the Initiative of Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (IRUD), is collecting information from patients all over Japan. Within the first three years, we have collected data from almost 10,000 patients. By establishing this database and sharing the data, we have succeeded in speeding up the diagnosis of rare diseases.
An AMED-funded project is seeking to collect and integrate diagnostic imaging data such as magnetic resonance imaging and others.© Monty Rakusen/Getty
The second project is seeking to develop advanced AI. To this end, AMED has collaborated with National Institute of Informatics (NII) to collect and share huge numbers of annotated images in cloud computing systems and to integrate diagnostic imaging data such as computed tomography, endoscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, and pathology etc. In this fascinating program, which is called Japan Excellence of Diagnostic Imaging (JEDI), imaging data, which includes endoscopy, pathology, radiology, ophthalmology, and dermatology images, is being collected under very strong informed consent. The National Institute of Informatics then provides a big, multicloud computing system to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence. We’re very excited about the outcomes from this project.
Why is international cooperation vital to advance medical research, and what is AMED doing to promote it?
For example, without collaboration among different countries it is impossible to collect sufficient data on rare diseases. We’re talking about diseases that affect just one in 10,000 or 100,000 people. So if we just use information collected in Japan, we cannot fast track precise diagnosis of these rare diseases. By collaborating with many countries and establishing international data-sharing networks, we are going to overcome diagnostic odyssey of patients and families, to achieve therapeutic strategy to develop medicines. Such a collaboration network includes connections with the National Institutes of Health in the USA, and its counterparts in the UK, Australia, Canada, etc.
But we are also happy to have some very successful collaborations with smaller countries. We are interested in smaller countries because they have comprehensive IT technologies that cover the whole nation. Japan has a huge population at present, and it seems difficult to establish a comprehensive medical information network. But we should learn from smaller countries. Their systems are so comprehensive. That’s why we need many collaborations.
Why is the input of international researchers important in reviewing grant proposals?
In Japan, we write research proposals in Japanese, which means that the referees are automatically Japanese. Japanese researchers review Japanese researchers. I don’t believe that is true peer review, because it excludes peers in other countries. That’s the number one reason.
The second reason is that English is a global language and using it in grant proposals helps increase collaborative research around the world and that will enhance the quality of science. That’s why I’m so keen to introduce an English-language peer review system.
We need to catalyze medical R&D. That’s why I believe international collaboration and the English-language peer review system are so important.
How do international researchers benefit by contributing to AMED grant reviews?
I am very interested in raising awareness about the quality of Japanese medical research in other countries. That can trigger interactions between Japanese and international researchers. I think international reviewers have a great opportunity to see for themselves what is happening in Japanese research. Such interactions can be the beginnings of collaborations.
What message would you like to convey to medical international researchers?
Save the world by collaborating with each other. Biomedical research has a huge opportunity to save patients and families. To do that, we need international collaboration, international data sharing and linkage.
To find out more about becoming a reviewer of AMED grant proposals, please see the following website: join-reviewer.amed.go.jp