Why I Became a Researcher

When I was a college student, I vaguely thought that it would be nice to become a researcher, but I’d given no thought to what particular field I wanted to study. 　After joining a laboratory, I was conducting research on topics such as the control of pharmacokinetics through polymer modification of protein drugs and missile therapy of anticancer drugs using antibodies, but I wonder if the results of my research were able to contribute a little to the development of pegylated interferons, which are now widely used for the treatment of hepatitis B. However, at that time, I could never have expected that antibody drugs would be among the top 10 in pharmaceutical sales worldwide. 　As I made progress in my master's and doctoral courses in graduate school, the professor and associate professor in my laboratory had formed the course of my career well before I could figure it out, and before I knew it, I was a university faculty member. 　At the time, more than half of the seniors that belonged to my laboratory at my graduate school would become university professors, so right from the beginning, the laboratory felt like a place where you would become a researcher. This had an influence on me and drew me to research.