Summary of Our Educational Activities

This department gives lectures on "Biopharmaceutics I, II" (5th and 6th term) and "Drug Delivery System" (7th term) to undergraduate students. In "Biopharmaceutics" we teach the concept of DDS (delivering drugs to target tissues), the mechanism of pharmacokinetic regulation (metabolism, transport and binding) and the basics of quantitative pharmacokinetics using mathematical models. In "Drug Delivery Systems", we give lectures on the technology and application of dosage form design. In both classes, we put emphasis on understanding of pharmacokinetics and DDS behind the improvement in clinical efficacy and the reduction in side effects, and understanding the importance of these fields in drug development and design, rather than simply the acquisition of factual knowledge.

As far as graduate students are concerned, we also give a lecture named, "Special lecture on Biopharmaceutics". Classes on the frontier of Transporters/Enzymes-based pharmacokinetics and DDS are given by teachers in this lab and instructors from outside. In this class, we manage to show the way new research is carried out and the excitement associated with carrying out such research. This lecture treats mechanism-based pharmacokinetics both as basic pharmaceutical science and as an important and necessary factor in drug discovery and development.

As we described in the "Summary of our research", we are involved in the latest research in mechanism-based pharmacokinetics (particularly focusing on drug transporters) and DDS. We are among the world leading researchers in this field, especially in the study of transporters in the liver, brain, small intestine and tumors, and in the application of in vitro drug transport, metabolism and binding data to in vivo situations. The students in this lab learn many experimental techniques and develop the ability to study by themselves. They aim to acquire basic skills involved in handling experimental animals, perfused organs, isolated cells, cultured cells and isolated membrane vesicles as well as the latest molecular biology and cell biology techniques and the detection of transporter SNPs. Furthermore, the students are trained to use computers and to analyze mathematical models to link in vitro and in vivo data. We have two types of seminars. One is the "colloquium" in which we discuss the progress of recent research and the other is the "bio-seminar" which describes and explains recent research published in the international scientific literature. Both types of seminar are usually held once a week. In the colloquium, the presentation and discussion (it usually takes 40-50 min per person) are conducted in English. We teach all students to explain the purpose of their experiments in a very clear manner, so as to highlight the position and originality of their studies in an international context, and to discover ways of solving problems by themselves. We encourage graduate students to submit papers to international journals, and also to write reviews. We provide many opportunities for them to present their studies at scientific meetings, for example, the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (JSSX), the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Japan (APSTJ), the Japan Society of Hepatology (JSH) and the Japan Society of Drug Delivery System in Japan, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX) and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) abroad. Around 10 visitors come to our lab every year, and we hold open seminars. On these occasions, graduate students also present their studies. From these experiences, most students are used to making presentations in English by the time they complete their master's course. In this field, there is a growing need for researchers with a broad outlook. I have collected my thoughts about this in a text entitled "Proposal for young researchers towards the 21st century". You can read it on our laboratory's homepage.

Students who have recently graduated from this lab work as researchers or educators in the field of biopharmaceutics and DDS, and are also engaged in the development of new drugs. Some work in pharmaceutical companies abroad, and also go into public service.