General outline of research and organization of the Center
The scope of Max Planck-The University of Tokyo Center for Integrative Inflammology (“the Center”) is to establish joint research and educational programs between the Max-Planck Society (MPS) and the University of Tokyo (UT), focusing on inflammation and its associated diseases. Inflammation is a complex biological response that is essential to protect the host from infection and other harmful stimuli. If left uncontrolled, however, inflammation can exacerbate illness, typically infection, allergy, autoimmunity, and cancer. In addition, inflammation underlies the development and/or aggravation of seemingly unrelated disorders such as cardiovascular, metabolic, and neuronal diseases. Therefore, the study of inflammation, and its linking together a multitude of research disciplines, is one of the most challenging and rapidly growing topics in medical research.
In this newly established Center, we will strive to build an integrative and multidisciplinary research effort that will focus on the regulatory mechanisms of inflammatory responses and the development of inflammation-associated diseases. The center will expand and strengthen the mutual cooperation that exists between the MPS and UT through joint research and education efforts and the participation of world-renowned Principal Investigators (PIs) drawn from several institutions at the two parent organizations.
Our long-term vision for the Center is that it will consolidate seemingly distant inflammation-related research disciplines, which have thus far been pursued by each individual organization. The idea is to facilitate a critical mass of concentrated research effort to spawn a highly attractive field we term “Integrative Inflammology”, the results of which we expect to contribute to the development of new methods for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of inflammation-associated diseases. The Center will also support the careers of young investigators and strengthen the education of students, including their acquisition of a broad base of scientific knowledge, the ability to foster incisive ideas, and the learning of advanced techniques in this burgeoning research field. As a result, the Center is expected to become an important asset for strengthening multidisciplinary medical research at both MPS and UT and, importantly, for contributing social benefits in terms of medical advances for inflammation-associated diseases.
