Potential to be created by broad and deep knowledge

Dr. Takeharu Nagai, a professor, Laboratory for Nanosystems Physiology and Nikon Imaging Center (another post), Hokkaido University Research Institute for Electronic Science

Introduction

Now that various kinds of information become available on cell and molecular levels, the early discovery of next-generation drugs is highly expected. On the nano level, high-performance microscopy assumes an important role in the post-genome era as it enables the development of new technologies and products. The Nikon Imaging Center was established in November 2005 with the aim of providing diverse users with an environment for using the latest advanced biological microscopy. We interviewed Dr. Takeharu Nagai, a professor at the Laboratory for Nanosystems Physiology, the Research Institute for Electronic Science, about microscopy and his laboratory.

Background of the establishment of the Nikon Imaging Center – Success of microscopy workshops

The idea of establishing the Nikon Imaging Center was hatched when Dr. Nagai was invited to microscopy workshops as a lecturer and instructor while working for RIKEN Brain Science Institute. The workshops were held twice a year, in summer and winter, through a partnership between Hokkaido University and Osaka University for the purpose of experts who had the expertise and techniques in microscopy teaching students various microscopic techniques. While the summer workshops, hosted by Osaka University, focused on the basics of microscopy, students learned applications in the winter workshops hosted by Hokkaido University.

Hokkaido University held the workshops as part of the COE Program, so the workshops were available only for a limited period of time. Many students and instructors voiced their desire to continue the workshops. Dr. Nagai thought that the establishment of an imaging center equipped with imaging devices would be necessary to continue the workshops and proposed the concept of an imaging center to microscope manufacturers. As a result, he succeeded in obtaining Nikon’s cooperation. Devices necessary for microscopy, e.g. imaging cameras and image analysis software, were also donated from manufacturers and the other equipment necessary for microscopy was obtained secondhand. The Center was launched in November last year.

The Nikon Imaging Center is also located at Harvard Medical School and the University of Heidelbergthe in Germany. In particular, the Nikon market is rapidly expanding at Harvard Medical School, where the Nikon Imaging Center was founded five years ago.

Roles of the Nikon Imaging Center – Provision of advanced microscopic techniques and expertise

In a microscopy workshop held in January this year, called the Cell Biology Workshop, university students participated from across the nation together with postdocs, assistants, associate professors and so forth. The workshop was held intensively for a week and approximately 30 participants, selected by document screening, followed a very tight schedule, engaging themselves in lectures in the morning, practical training in the afternoon and analyses in the evening. Equipment at the Center was fully utilized during the workshop.

The equipment at the Center is also available to researchers at Hokkaido University and elsewhere and is fully booked. The high utilization ratio is attributed to the presence of instructors. Since high-priced microscopes do not necessarily guarantee good images, instructors well-versed in the principle of microscopy are stationed and tell you how to operate the equipment, which turns out to be a great advantage of this center.

Laboratory for Nanosystems Physiology – Dr. Nagai’s laboratory putting together experts from many disciplines

“If you are to venture into something new, it would be more interesting to have researchers from many disciplines to share ideas. Knowledge and ideas will broaden only when people strive to achieve the same goal from different perspectives.” This is what Dr. Nagai believes and this is why he brought together members with differing expertise when he established his laboratory. The background is very interesting.

Dr. Nagai met Dr. Ippei Kotera, a cell biology expert and PRESTO researcher, at a microscopy workshop. Dr. Kotera studied the nucleocytoplasmic transport of protein, using molecular biological techniques, at Osaka University and gained a doctorate in the spring of last year before joining the laboratory. Dr. Tomomi Tani, an expert in microscopic techniques and associate professor, was one of Dr. Nagai’s classmates at university and they had various discussions about science. Dr. Nagai persuaded Dr. Tani to join his laboratory because the latter thoroughly learned both the basics and application of microscopic techniques at graduate school. Research activities in the nanosystems physiology, which Dr. Nagai strives for, require techniques using fluorescent protein, chemical luminescent protein and so forth, for which Dr. Kotera’s molecular biological techniques and Dr. Tani’s microscopic techniques are indispensable.

Dr. Nagai met with Dr. (Derek) Goto, a bioinformatics expert and assistant, in New York in March last year, when he attended an international conference. Dr. Goto, who was then working for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, talked to Dr. Nagai in fluent Japanese at a bar in the laboratory. Since Dr. Nagai was looking for an assistant and Dr. Goto, who obtained his doctorate at Hokkaido University Faculty of Agriculture, had a strong desire to return to Hokkaido, he asked Dr. Goto to join him. Excelling in information management, Dr. Goto has proved his talent is instrumental not only in research but also in laboratory operation. For example, the laboratory’s budget control software and order management software for reagents and equipment both of which Dr. Goto developed are very helpful. Currently, eight laboratory members, including assistants and researchers, are carrying on research.

Laboratory rule – holding goal-oriented meetings

In this laboratory, where experts have assembled from many disciplines, members respect one another’s expertise and techniques. Dr. Nagai got his laboratory on track, specifically up to staff recruitment, in a topdown manner. Now that the laboratory has a full lineup of staffers, they regard themselves as co-researchers. Dr. Nagai opines, “I believe that positions will make people mature as a person. Therefore, I make sure that they responsibly engage in research, not in a freewilled manner. Since we are in the first year following the Center’s establishment, we do not know if this approach will work from a long-term perspective but it is working perfectly for now.”

Since this spring, undergraduate seniors and graduate students have joined the laboratory. Students have to acquire a lot of knowledge and techniques. They cannot do anything interesting unless they can deeply understand broad disciplines instead of mastering the narrow realms of their expertise. In this regard, the Nagai Laboratory is attractive because students can learn many disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, engineering and biology. When you have broad knowledge, ideas gush. Therefore, four types of meetings are held weekly to train members how to effectively explain ideas, sort out their own research activities and facilitate cooperation among members.

On Monday mornings, postdocs hold discussions with Dr. Nagai on a one-on-one basis with the aim of reporting weekly progress and discussing future policies. This is a tight schedule for both postdocs and Dr. Nagai, but regularly grasping the present state of affairs helps prevent a lack of communication and misunderstanding. During lunch on Mondays, one member reports his or her research progress. On Wednesdays, they hold a study session about microscopic techniques and fluorescence with the goal of deepening their knowledge about microscopy, which constitutes the bedrock of research, because the members’ expertise covers wide-ranging areas.

From 6:00 p.m. every Friday, they hold an “idea seminar,” when participants have a lighthearted free discussion over snacks in a relaxing atmosphere. They appoint an on-duty staffer every week and brainstorm a topic determined by the staffer. Dr. Nagai says, “The other day, a businessman specialized in quantum mechanics joined the seminar. The story he shared with us was very interesting and enlivened the atmosphere. It is interesting to talk with people in different fields.”

For ideal industry-university collaborations – Provision of needs and seeds between businesses and researchers

Dr. Nagai maintains, “Businesses are a reservoir of seeds, but they do not make effective use of their numerous first-rate technologies. This is not because such technologies do not lead to profits but because they do not know where they can utilize the technologies.” For example, microscope manufacturers make products only from the viewpoint of engineers because they do not have information about what microscopy researchers want despite the fact that they have excellent know-how with regard to producing microscopes. Of course, researchers are also to blame for failing to disseminate their needs and ideas beyond academic circles. It is ideal to develop new technologies and products based on a combination of researchers’ ideas and businesses’ seeds or a combination of researchers’ seeds and businesses’ ideas, and industry-university collaboration will become very meaningful if this can be materialized.

Effective utilization of university-owned intellectual property – Difficulties in striking a balance between research and business management

The establishment of university-launched venture businesses is considered as a means to make effective use of intellectual property at universities. The problem is, however, the difficulty of pursuing research and keeping businesses in good shape at the same time. It is also true that there are only a few successful examples of venture businesses where researchers also engage in business management. Many successful examples have business managers working separately from researchers and researchers assume responsibility as the Chief Technical Officers (CTO). Universities are supposed to carry on research and development and make technologies available while businesses use the technologies to manufacture products. It is important that both universities and businesses are aware of this division of roles and make patents available in markets in an effective manner. However, there are few researchers who understand this. Dr. Nagai says, “Students should acquire know-how like this through general education. For this purpose, it should be taught to students in campus-wide education.”

Improvements to be made at Hokkaido University – Reviewing curricula and subjects

The first problem is the present curriculum. Students memorize many mathematical formulae, wondering what use they can make of them. Undergraduate students cannot see any direct connection between knowledge and practice, and begin to see such connections only in doctoral programs. On the other hand, in microscopy workshops, relations between morning lectures and practical training in the afternoon are clear. The same is true of other countries. For example, in Australia, where Dr. Goto is from, universities, from the first year onward, have curricula in which knowledge is directly linked to techniques.

Dr. Nagai also maintains that graduation research in the fourth year is useless if it does not capitalize on the knowledge acquired by students during the preceding three years. He says, “First and foremost, undergraduate students should acquire “deep and extensive” knowledge for four years. It is early enough for them to join laboratories when they begin master’s programs. If Hokkaido University can revise curricula in this manner, it will have a tremendous impact and help significantly improve the quality of students.”

He also has novel ideas about classes. “Many instructors think what is important for researchers is research and that teaching at class is secondary for them. When such instructors are to teach undergraduate students subjects that are not their specialties, it is natural that their lessons become boring since they teach because they have to. Students are not motivated, either. This is an extreme case, but if several instructors take charge of lessons and each instructor teaches his or her laboratory’s expertise and research programs intensively for two weeks, for example, instructors will have fewer burdens and students will enjoy the classes.”

Lastly, Dr. Nagai insists that Hokkaido University does not have a “forum for exchanges” where researchers, students and businesses can casually exchange information and opinions: “We need these reforms now that our university has become an independent corporation, making it possible to make bold changes without being shackled by the conventional framework.”

Profile

• Laboratory for Nanosystems Physiology　Nagai Laboratory
• Nikon Imaging Center