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Director, Laboratory
Hiroko ISODA, PhD

ラボ長

Since 2016, AIST has been launching “Open Innovation Laboratories (Commonly known as OIL)”, a collaborative research centers for industry, academia and government established on campuses such as universities, as a part of the “Open Innovation Arena Plan” promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Through OIL, it is intended to promote the "bridge" of technology to the industrial world by integrating basic research at universities and other institutions with basic research and applied technology development at AIST.

Until now, the University of Tsukuba has promoted research on the functionality of foods and the discovery of natural bioactive substances from various resources, such as plants. We have elucidated many mechanisms of food resource components, with various biological effects, through a variety of bioassay technologies and clinical trial research on humans. The discovery of new food ingredients and the scientific demonstration of high-performance components based on the accumulated scientific evidence can create an added-value for investigated materials, lead to industrialization and job creation. It is also an initiative that follows the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Furthermore, AIST has positioned catalyst technology, which converts various substances into more useful intermediates, as a key technology for achieving chemical manufacturing technology and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have been working on the development of practical catalysts for synthesizing useful substances using the components contained in the raw materials.

With the establishment of the OIL for Food Medicinal Resource Engineering, the potential of the University of Tsukuba's research on drug resources and the potential of AIST's material conversion technology will be merged, to allow sufficient supply of rare bioactive ingredients in food products, from cheap raw materials, which were previously difficult to obtain. We can, therefore, expect to discover and elucidate new bioactive functions expressed by these rare components and their corresponding derivatives. With regard to promising candidate substances, we will add medical evidence through clinical research and aim to implement them in society as pharmaceuticals and functional foods ingredients.

We look forward to the active participation of researchers and companies in OIL.
We also look forward to your guidance and support.

DirectorDr.Hiroko ISODA(Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Deputy DirectorDr.Ken-ichi TOMINAGA
AdvisorDr.Kazuhiko SATO(Assistant Director General,AIST)
AdvisorDr.Hideo KIGOSHI(Specially Appointed Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Technical StaffMr.Mitsuyuki TONAGI
Technical StaffMs.Shiho FUNAKUSHI

【Biomass conversion team】

LeaderDr.Kounosuke OISAKI (Leader,IRC3,AIST)
Concurrent ResearcherDr.Akira YADA(Leader,IRC3,AIST)
Invited ResearcherDr.Takashi ARIMURA
Invited ResearcherMr.Masataka HATANAKA
Visiting ResearcherDr.Hideo KIGOSHI(Specially Appointed Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Visiting ResearcherDr.Noriki KUTSUMURA(Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Visiting ResearcherDr.Masahito YOSHIDA(Associate Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Visiting ResearcherDr.Takayuki OOYOSHI(Assistant Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Visiting ResearcherDr.Tomoya SUGAI(Assistant Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Technical StaffMs.Eriko UCHIAGE
Visiting ResearcherMr.Yuusuke KAMIMURA
Visiting ResearcherMr.Takahiro NAKANISHI
Graduate studentMr.Rintarou OOTANI(University of Tsukuba)
Graduate studentMs.Ou GOSHUUSHI(University of Tsukuba)

【Bioassay team】

LeaderDr.Mitutoshi NAKAJIMA(Specially Appointed Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Senior ResearcherDr.Kazunori SASAKI
Postdoctoral ResearcherDr.Munkhzul GANBOLD
Postdoctoral ResearcherDr.Meriem BEJAOUI
Visiting ResearcherDr.Farhana FERDOUSI(Assistant Professor,University of Tsukuba)
Visiting ResearcherDr.Shinji KONDOU(Researcher,University of Tsukuba)
Graduate studentMs.Chen YU JIA(University of Tsukuba)
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