Outline

Nagasaki University has entered into a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan) in the field of infectious diseases focused on malaria on February 28, 2019. Through this agreement, Nagasaki University and Shionogi intended to establish Shionogi Global Infectious Disease Division (SHINE) as a collaborative research division at Institute of Tropical Medicine. The aim of the establishment is t o accelerate and facilitate the drug discovery research for malaria. Over the next five years, this division will concentrate on studies to understand the life cycle of malaria parasites and the host defense mechanism, which are essential for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria. And final goals are to create an innovate novel drug and vaccine based on the findings from the studies.
Malaria is one of the top 3 infectious diseases worldwide along with AIDS and tuberculosis, and mainly occurs in epidemics in tropical regions and subtropical regions. The efficacy of existing preventive vaccine is insufficient and also a number of parasites have been developing resistance to existing medicines. Therefore, malaria has been a serious threat to human globally.
Our division consists 4 departments, Cellular Architecture Studies, Molecular Infection Dynamics, Immune regulation and Exploratory Research for Drug Discovery. Through the collaboration, Nagasaki University and Shionogi will become a key part of the new open innovation based on the industry-academia collaboration both domestic and overseas, and will establish a platform aiming at eradication of malaria. We will strive to contribute to the health of people around the world through ongoing provision of the best preventive and therapeutics of malaria.