Core Research for Evolutionary Science and Technology (CREST) ihttp://www.jst.go.jp/kisoken/crest/en/index.htmlj
The International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) annual meeting was held in Vancouver, Canada, from October 6-8, 2014. This was the sixth meeting, following the Berlin meeting in 2013, and was organized by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
More than 200 people took part in the event, and from Japan, JST as a funding member of the IHEC and members of the three CREST research projects joined the meeting. As well as Japan, Canada, the EU, Germany, South Korea, and the USA participated in the meeting as members of the IHEC.
The IHEC is a consortium that aims to map reference epigenomes of at least 1,000 tissues and cells for human health and disease by cooperation among the participant countries/regions.
On the first and second days of the meeting ("IHEC Day"), seven working groups, such as Cell and Tissue Coordination, Communication, and Data Ecosystem, summarized the progresses over the last year and discussed the plans for the next year. The discussion was reported to all the participants, and further comments were made to help achieve the goals. Eminent scientific progress was reported by four researchers from the IHEC projects. Dr. Kanai from the National Cancer Center Research Institute presented her research. At the end of IHEC Day, Dr. Ushijima reported the coming tasks of the Cell and Tissue Coordination Working Group.
The third day of the meeting ("Science Day") was devoted to presentations on science from inside and outside of the IHEC. Nine researchers from around the world made presentations of their leading edge studies, including Professor Ito from Kyushu University, a CREST member.
The meeting was successful by sharing recent progress and technological development. The participants critically discussed the current and future tasks to better serve human health and disease. At the end of the meeting, it was announced that the next annual meeting will be held in Japan from 16th to 18th November, 2015.
JST joined the IHEC in May, 2011. The CREST research area “Development of Fundamental Technologies for Diagnosis and Therapy Based upon Epigenome Analysis” focuses on the discovery of new principles and establishment of fundamental medical technologies based on epigenome analyses, in addition to the mapping of reference epigenome, contributing to IHEC.
JST, an integrated organization of science and technology in Japan, establishes an infrastructure for the entire process from the creation of knowledge to the return to the society. For more information, visit http://www.jst.go.jp/EN/