Another ILO workshop on pneumoconiosis took me to Kuala Lumpur, for four days from 4 May, during the world's concern about Swine flu, which is now properly renamed as H1N1 influenza that seems like to have almost same, at most, features as usual influenza.
The quarantine control at Kuala Lumpur was swift and effective, and American friend of mine has told me that he has went through a bit more strict process because of the clusters in his homeland. Sheet of health information and thermography did the quick work on it.
My trip continued to visit Chenderawasih University, a corporation couterpart to Kochi University since 2004, to meet Rector and their staffs and talked about on-going collaboration. I gathered few words of Indonesian language, like Ikan Bakar, Udang, Cumi, Asam manis, or even Ena. Of course Terimakasi.
The visit have been very short but effective. I met future PhD students who are trying their best to get scholarship, as well as performing interesting studies from their own aspects. I hope to see them in my department in very near future.
Now I am writing this at Dempasar Airport waiting for my next flight that take me back to Osaka via Singapore.
2009年5月12日火曜日
2009年4月8日水曜日
New Fiscal Year
My labo has a new staff and two PhD students this year. Dr. Masamitsu Eitoku majors in basic biological studies on epigenetics and moved into our field of environmental medicine. He is a young and fresh researcher with honest mind. Situation in national universities in Japan is not ideal, but still we have place to conduct our researches and chances to get research grant.
One of the new students is from Thailand, who have known me since a couple of years ago when I went to Thailand on ILO mission for pneumooconioses workshop, and the other is from D. R. Congo. Now Ngatu is in the second year and will help these two new comers. Not many students are from Africa in KMS, only one other from Zimbabwe in the whole Kochi University. It seems my department will be the core for collaborating with African universities.
One of the new students is from Thailand, who have known me since a couple of years ago when I went to Thailand on ILO mission for pneumooconioses workshop, and the other is from D. R. Congo. Now Ngatu is in the second year and will help these two new comers. Not many students are from Africa in KMS, only one other from Zimbabwe in the whole Kochi University. It seems my department will be the core for collaborating with African universities.
2009年3月14日土曜日
2009年3月3日火曜日
Environmental Medicine
It is a bit hard to explain what the Environmental Medicine is. Of course it is a discipline of medicine that deals with pathologic environmental agents to human. Pathologic agents will be systematically devided into physical, chemical, biological and social environmental factors. The most severe effect of these agents or factors are usually observed in workplaces where these factors are used for industrial production purposes. So it is often referred to Occupational and Environmental Medicine. I am occupational physician, too.
Asbestos, one of the environmental carcinogen that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of pleura, is an example of bad occupational environment causing public nuisance. An asbestos-containing water pipe producing factory had spread life threatening agent in the midst of a big city named Amagasaki and nearly 100 citizens who lived near the factory suffered mesothelioma. This may have been prevented if the workplace hazard had been properly controlled.
Physicians and researchers in Environmental Medicine need to cover clinical medicine and toxicology regarding occupational and environmental hazard, principle of epidemiology and health policy regarding this issue. We need to see patients, workplaces, and communities. We need to act as clinicians and at the same time as public health practitioners. We need to see individuals and group of people. We need to do both.
As a clinician one has to see patients, diagnose, and treat. And as a public health practitioner, one has to seek the causative agent, prevent the same disease, and control the diseases. We are performing such tasks.
Asbestos, one of the environmental carcinogen that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of pleura, is an example of bad occupational environment causing public nuisance. An asbestos-containing water pipe producing factory had spread life threatening agent in the midst of a big city named Amagasaki and nearly 100 citizens who lived near the factory suffered mesothelioma. This may have been prevented if the workplace hazard had been properly controlled.
Physicians and researchers in Environmental Medicine need to cover clinical medicine and toxicology regarding occupational and environmental hazard, principle of epidemiology and health policy regarding this issue. We need to see patients, workplaces, and communities. We need to act as clinicians and at the same time as public health practitioners. We need to see individuals and group of people. We need to do both.
As a clinician one has to see patients, diagnose, and treat. And as a public health practitioner, one has to seek the causative agent, prevent the same disease, and control the diseases. We are performing such tasks.
2009年2月19日木曜日
Africa
Two of us in our department are going to attend the 23rd International Congress on Occupational Health due to be held in Cape Town, South Africa end of March. We, a graduate student Ngatu Nlandu, MD, and me, are both presenting research results on pneumoconiosis imaging. The day of presentation has been acturally not yet informed, and we also do not know whether we are presenting as an oral or a poster presentation or both. Well, that's life. We will both prepare powerpoint and a big sheet of poster.
Since his enrollment as PhD student, our department has got closer and closer to the African Continent. There have been a lot of correspondence with people there, we have also applied to many official and private grants for research project in Africa, and have done little investigation with the help from LIPS, a healthcare NGO that Ngatu has established in D. R. Congo. Also, we met Congolese medical doctors who stay in Japan and pursuing further educational oppotunities just like Ngatu. Hope our labo will give best support for them!
Since his enrollment as PhD student, our department has got closer and closer to the African Continent. There have been a lot of correspondence with people there, we have also applied to many official and private grants for research project in Africa, and have done little investigation with the help from LIPS, a healthcare NGO that Ngatu has established in D. R. Congo. Also, we met Congolese medical doctors who stay in Japan and pursuing further educational oppotunities just like Ngatu. Hope our labo will give best support for them!
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