News Releases & Research Results New SATREPS Projects for FY 2015 under AMED International Collaborative Research Program

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED, President: SUEMATSU Makoto) announced the provisional selection^*1 of two new projects in the Infectious Diseases Control research area concerning “Research on measures to address infectious diseases control attuned to the needs of developing countries” for the Fiscal Year 2015 Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS).

The SATREPS program is a Japanese government program established in FY 2008 that promotes international joint research. The program has been structured as a collaboration between the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). With the establishment of AMED on April 1 2015 to integrate and unify points of contact and procedures for Japanese government programs for medical research and development, the SATREPS in Infectious Diseases Control research area is now handled as a collaboration between AMED and JICA. SATREPS projects in the areas of Environment/Energy, Bioresources, and Disaster Prevention and Mitigation continue to be handled jointly by JST and JICA.^*2

Following a call for proposals, projects were provisionally selected by JST after reviewing proposal documents and conducting interviews, including review from an Official Development Assistance (ODA) perspective, in accordance with the selection process published by JST.^*3 The results of selection for the Infectious Diseases Control research area were then transferred to AMED.    The provisionally selected projects are listed in the following. Support for these projects will commence as soon as the contracts are in place and preparations are complete.

*1 Provisional selection:

Before a project can proceed, an international agreement needs to be signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) and the government of the developing country regarding implementation of the project, followed by an agreement between JICA and the research counterpart(s) in the developing country on the details of technical cooperation. Consequently, the situation in the developing country or the discussion of details with the research counterpart may result in the research plan for the provisionally selected project being modified or the project itself being terminated. For this reason, the selection of these projects is currently “provisional selection”.

*2 SATREPS:

Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development

• URL: http://www.jst.go.jp/global/english/

*3 Details of the selection process (JST Press Release):

• Japanese URL: http://www.jst.go.jp/pr/info/info1100/index.html
• English summary URL: http://www.jst.go.jp/pr/info/info1100/index_e.html

“The Project for Surveillance and Laboratory Support for Emerging Pathogens of Public Health Importance”
Republic of Ghana
(Professor KIYONO Hiroshi; The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo)

“The Project for Identification of Unknown Pathogens and Establishment of On-site Rapid Diagnostic System for Viral Diseases.”
Republic of Gabon
(Professor YASUDA Jiro; Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University)

* Projects are listed in alphabetical order based on the name of the principal investigator. Project names may change as a result of discussion with agencies and institutions in the partner country.