An architectural rendering of the HIMEDIC Building
Kyoto University and HIMEDIC Co Ltd have signed an agreement under which HIMEDIC will donate a research facility to be built within the grounds of the Kyoto University Hospital. The HIMEDIC Building, as the facility will be called, will serve as a research center for the study of lifestyle disease prevention.
HIMEDIC Co Ltd agreed on the donation as a way of contributing to the University hospital's goal -- included in its long-term vision set out in 2013 -- of "establishing one of the largest and most advanced research facilities in Japan dedicated to the prevention of lifestyle diseases".
In the HIMEDIC Building, researchers will accumulate and maintain, over many years, large volumes of data on healthy individuals -- acquired through joint research with businesses that provide employee health checkups -- as well as genetic information obtained from biobanks, and will work on building a clinical database comprised of images, health information, and medical records so collected. They will then study these data with the goal of developing more effective early detection methods and gaining a better understanding of diseases, so that they may contribute to advances in preventive medicine and to the creation of a healthy, long-lived society.
From left: Director Ariyoshi Fushimi and President and COO Katsuyasu Ito of HIMEDIC, Kyoto University President Hiroshi Matsumoto, and University Hospital Director Michiaki Mishima
HIMEDIC President and COO Ito, left, and Kyoto University President Matsumoto signing the agreement
