Events Sep 19-22, 2022 4th Japan-UK Neuroscience Symposium 2022

The 4th Japan-UK Neuroscience Symposium was held over 4 days, from the 19th to 22nd September in Karuizawa, Japan, co-organised by AMED, the UK Medical Research Council (MRC), Nagoya University, and the RIKEN Center for Brain Science.
In total, 65 participants from universities, research institutes, industry and research supporting organisations from both Japan and the UK attended the Symposium. There were two keynote lectures on the first day, titled: “Cruising in the cell” by Dr Atsushi Miyawaki, Team Leader at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science, and “Modeling Neurological/Psychiatric diseases using iPS cell technologies and Genetically Modified Nonhuman Primates” by Professor Hideyuki Okano of Keio University. The Symposium went on to feature thematic sessions on “Parkinson’s disease, tauopathies, and MND”, “synapse, memory and Alzheimer’s disease”, “genome and biomarkers”, “neuropsychiatry disorders”, and “novel technologies”. There was also a poster session for early career researchers, in which Best Poster Awards were given to two researchers judged to have great potential for future achievement in research and development, one from Japan and one from the UK. In addition to the thematic content, a lively roundtable discussion was held among all participants, chaired by the Japan and UK organisers, on the subject of strategies and challenges for the future development of Japan-UK collaborative research. On the final day ofthe Symposium, a reception was hosted at the British Embassy in Tokyo featuring remarks from Dr Yoshinao Mishima, President of AMED.

Based on the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between AMED and the MRC in February 2017 and renewed in September 2022, the Japan-UK Neuroscience Symposium is held annually, with the location alternating between Japan and the UK. Its purpose is to foster new collaborative neuroscience research between Japan and the UK, with a focus on new approaches to psychiatric and neurological disorders, including dementia, as well as mental health conditions.
As the first day of the Symposium, 19th September, coincided with the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II in the UK, a minute’s silence was observed in her memory at the opening of the event.