26 Feb Australian Medical Researchers: The Japan Connection (2)
An example of the possibilities of successful collaboration between Australia and Japan was demonstrated in the announcement of the development of and validation of a blood test for the detection and prediction of the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
“The breakthrough was the result of an extensive international collaboration between industry and academia in both Japan and Australia. The key technology, known as IP-MS, was implemented by Shimadzu Corporation in Japan. The University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Kindai University, and Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology all contributed to the work. In Australia, … [a similar] study upon which the test was validated, is a partnership between the Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne, CSIRO, Edith Cowan University, and Austin Health.”
Shimadzu is a major Japanese analytical instruments and medical equipment manufacturer. Dr Koichi Tanaka, an engineer with Shimadzu was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002 for a mass spectrometer technique on which the detection technique is based. [Read his facinating self history here.]