Global COE Program Global Education and Research Center Aiming at the control of AIDS

Program Overview > Objectives

Today, HIV infection poses an imminent and substantial threat to the public health and has had a devastating impact worldwide. Of note, HIV prevalence is on the rise in Japan. Despite the ongoing growth in the epidemic, the national funding for HIV/AIDS research is considerably limited, and the number of Japanese scientists and clinicians focusing on AIDS remains low since 1990s. To assume our share of responsibility, there is an urgent need to promote international collaboration and expand training opportunities for young individuals to become leaders in HIV/AIDS research.

Founded as the first and only academic institute in Japan devoted for HIV/AIDS research, Kumamoto University Center for AIDS Research has been committed to foster a dynamic program to train young researchers specialized in HIV/AIDS.

With our experience and commitment to "the Initiative for Attractive Educational Programs in Graduate School: the AIDS Research Training Program," we will offer a rigorous AIDS Research Expert Training Program (AREP) for graduate students, young physicians, and junior researchers. Our strategies in AREP include the globalization of the laboratories,both scientifically and linguistically, enhancing existing collaborative research projects, and creating new projects with designated international liaison laboratories (ILLs). In addition, we employ English- speaking faculty members to improve students' English skills, send students to international meetings, and introduce joint research opportunities to gCOE trainees. We provide an environment for global communications, cooperation, and competitions in order to produce the next generation of internationally competitive leaders in AIDS medicine.
Although the backbone of research enterprise is the individual investigators, many areas of HIV/AIDS research require interdisciplinary teams of scientists working at the intersection of virology, immunology, chemistry, molecular biology, clinical medicine, and so forth. In this gCOE program, we competitively pursue a number of interdisciplinary projects by enhancing domestic and international collaborations and attracting and training motivated and talented young individuals throughout Japan.