FACULTY
- Department
- Department of Pharmacy
- Laboratory
- Chemical Biology Laboratory
- Field of Study
- Chemistry
History
Graduate School/University, etc.
1998 Graduated from School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University 2003 Completed Second Term Doctoral Course, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University
Why I Became a Researcher
When I was in school, my grandfather passed away from cancer. That event made me to want to create a new medicine to treat cancer, and so I went into pharmaceutical sciences at my university. I was interested in organic chemistry that would allow me to create new molecules with my own hands, so I chose an organic synthesis laboratory. I was blessed with very excellent seniors in the laboratory, but on the other hand, I also felt that there was a risk that if I didn’t do my best to get close to these seniors, I wouldn’t make it even after going out into the workforce, so I went to graduate school, and spent my days from morning to night in experimentation. Thinking back on it from now, I feel that the experiences and thoughts I had then have become very large assets that led me to where I am now. That said, I’m the type of person who doesn’t really do things in a planned way, and I didn’t have a clear goal where I proclaimed “I want to be this kind of researcher!” or anything. The truth is that I just found experiments and research to be fun, and before I knew it, I was in university continuing my research.
Research Information
Research Area and Theme
Controlling Life Phenomena Using the Power of Synthetic Organic Chemistry
The greatest attraction of synthetic organic chemistry is that you can create new things with your own hands. Just creating things is not interesting, so I want to consider organic synthesis not as the “end goal” but as “means,” and then conduct research that goes as far as asking what can be done with the things we create, and how can it be useful, as well as research that leads to the control and clarification of life phenomena using an organic chemistry approach. In pharmacy, one of the goals to be pursued is “drug discovery,” so it would be ideal if I could find any molecule that could contribute to this.
Message to Students
Message to Students
Organic chemistry is a discipline that should be called the “Central Science” that supports the foundation of life chemistry, so a proper understanding of organic chemistry will be useful in any research field. In the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, you will also learn physics and biology with a focus on organic chemistry, so you should be able to acquire the ability to be active in society as a human resource who plays a core role in science. Of course, for most aspiring pharmacists, organic chemistry is indispensable in considering the nature, pharmacodynamics and safety of pharmaceutical products due to the fact that most of them are organic compounds. I think that in addition to memorizing the name of drugs and their corresponding diseases, the ability that is required of pharmacists is one in which they have a perspective informed by organic chemistry that allows them to consider what happens at the molecular level. In lectures and practical training, I am mindful to teach students the basics in an easy-to-understand manner, so that they can be interested in organic chemistry and to give students the impetus to dig further into their studies. In terms of research, what we’re doing is still experimental science, so I would like to conduct useful and interesting research with people who can work with a “let’s just try it” attitude.