TMU College of Nutrition reinforced collaboration with Japan’s Tohoku University through SAKURA Exchange Program in Science

To expand students’ horizons, the College of Nutrition of Taipei Medical University (TMU College of Nutrition) has been actively carrying out the SAKURA Exchange Program in Science with Tohoku University by visiting Tohoku University every year since 2016.

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Though these regular visits were put on hold during the pandemic, they were resumed by TMU College of Nutrition immediately as travel restriction eased up, and such mutually beneficial academic exchange was reinitiated in February 2023.

SAKURA Exchange Program is also called as Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science. The program is held and sponsored by Japan Science and Technology Agency, JSP, hoping to raise Asian scholars’ awareness of Japan’s cutting-edge research achievements via the close collaboration among industries, academies, and the Government.

The 7-day exchange between TMU College of Nutrition and Tohoku University kicked off on February 10^th , 2023, involving ten graduate students and two faculty members from TMU College of Nutrition.

During the 7 days, students took part in a series of lectures given by the professors from Tohoku University. For example, Professor Toda Machiko delivered a lecture on the influence of food allergens on the human body. Professor Nakagawa Kiyotaka and his lab members introduced their research topic, while Professor Nochi Tomonori discussed the impact of the greenhouse effect on animal husbandry and its potential implications for food shortage. Additionally, Professor Harada Masahiko provided an introduction to the next-generation synchrotron radiation facility, Nano Terasu, which is still under construction.

Participants from TMU College of Nutrition also visited to other campuses of Tohoku University, including the Katahira Campus, the Aobayama Campus, and the Kawauchi Campus. Among these campuses, Kawauchi Campus, which primarily focuses on marine science, was significantly affected by the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake. Two professors from the campus explained to TMU students that, even though the reconstruction ended a while ago, the local marine ecosystem has not fully recovered from the catastrophe.

In addition to attending lectures and speeches, students from two universities held an academic exchange session by introducing research topics respectively to gain a complete understanding of the possibility of researching cooperation in the future. This year, the SAKURA Exchange in Science successfully ended in a joyous academic exchange meeting, laying a solid foundation for strengthened collaboration between the two universities.