Prof. Toshio Suwa in the center with his students
Since the Meiji Era, our country’s colleges related to medicine have developed basic pharmaceutical studies focusing on physical and chemical science. As we are facing the arrival of a super-aging society and the upgrade of medical technology, the urgent need of training pharmacists who have high level of knowledge in medicine has been recognized. To fulfill the need, the six-year course of new pharmaceutical education started in 2007. However, it seems that there needs more effort on training scientists for drug development who stand between basic pharmaceutical researchers and medical care pharmacists. The science and technology of medicine development are extremely important interdisciplinary research fields which incorporate not only natural science but also social science, ethics and economics.
This seminar was set up in 2006 as a unique seminar that conducts medicine development and clinical drug evaluation. Every teacher has worked on new drug development at pharmaceutical companies for a long time. Another feature of our seminar is that we have a lot of graduate students with job experience, and they have a variety of backgrounds, such as a clinical research coordinator at medical care institution, a specialist in academic department of a company or a reviewer of administration. Theme of research projects are related to professional experiences, and presentations and discussions at seminar are very important information sources for us. It is a real “hangaku-hankyo (half learning and half teaching).” Also, we hold what we call “special seminars” bringing famous lecturers who are active on the front lines of new medicine development. Attendees are now around one hundred people including those from outside of Keio University. During Q&A session, we ask students to question first; there are students trying to get some feedback about their research theme. Sometimes we have surprising questions such as “what made you think of becoming company president although you had joined the company as a researcher?” After the seminar, we hold a gathering with beer and snacks at a lounge with a great view of illuminated Tokyo Tower, and even this time, we keep students from talking only to each other. Their faces get flushed in excitement as they talk to corporate managers or developers, which is not just because of alcohol.
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Faculty Profile
Prof. Toshio Suwa, Faculty of Medicine
Graduated from Department of Agricultural Chemistry of College of Agriculture at Tokyo University of Education in 1971. Obtained master’s degree in agriculture from the same university. Started working at Taisho Pharmaceutical Company Research Center pharmacokinetic laboratory in 1973. Director of clinical development, and director of development laboratory of the company. Has been at the present post since 2004. Specializes in drug and medicine development studies and clinical pharmaceutical evaluation studies.
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Student's Voice
Masafumi Kikuura, First year student at Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Learn about Medicine Development Practically
At our seminar, we are learning technique and logic about clinical pharmaceutical evaluation and issues on new drug development such as regulatory science. I am working on pharmacoeconomics of molecular-targeting drugs, which is getting attention in the field of cancer treatment. It is to research clinical thesis, and conduct pharmacoeconomic analysis after clarifying the effectiveness of treatment. This is an important field for new drug development.
When I joined the seminar, I couldn’t follow the graduate students at all in discussion; however, I have become able to handle answering difficult questions during my presentations since I stepped on to master’s program. Both professor and associate professor teach us based on their experiences of drug development and research; thus, I can acquire knowledge, thoughts or numerous skills that are crucial to work as a scientist for drug development in the future.
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