Hiroshi SHIBATA
MD. PhD. Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences・Professor of Graduate School, University of Human Arts and Sciences

Expertise/fields of interest

Gerontology, geriatrics, nutritional epidemiology

Profile

Dr. Shibata graduated from Hokkaido University School of Medicine in 1965. In 1966, he joined the staff of the Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo. In 1982, he became a Senior Researcher at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology (and Deputy in 1993; he is currently an emeritus staff member). In 2002, he became a Professor at the J. F. Oberlin University Graduate School of Gerontology. (He is now a Professor Emeritus/Invited Professor.) He serves on the boards of five academic societies, including chairing the Society for Applied Gerontology-Japan. He is Chairman of the Gerontology Education Subcommittee of the Science Council of Japan, a Director of the Japan Foundation for Aging and Health, and a Director of the Sukoyaka Dietary Life Association.

Message

Gerontology is a new discipline that was born in 1903. Its mission was to combine and unify fields that had been vertically divided and reductionist ever since the Renaissance. Gerontology is considered an interdisciplinary field. In part, this means that it removes barriers between disciplines.
On the other hand, research systems in academia remain vertically divided, and frameworks for the granting of competitive research funding follow this pattern.
JST's Redesigning Communities for Aged Society R&D focus area has the potential to open new approaches to research. I will do my best to make this happen.