午夜剧场

Since graduating from the School of Medicine about 12 years ago, I have been involved in research on respiratory infections while gaining clinical experience. For the past two years, I have been conducting research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., to investigate the pathology of pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease, a chronically progressing respiratory infection. The NIH is an organization directly under the U.S. government and is the world's largest medical sciences research institute. Many research achievements have been born from this facility.

NIH Director Francis Collins is a renowned geneticist who served as the head of the International Human Genome Project and is also an expert in cystic fibrosis, an incurable congenital disease characterized by repeated respiratory infections. He is also famous as a band member and often performs with his band on the NIH campus. When the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis was discovered 30 years ago, he composed an original song titled "Dare to Dream," dreaming that one day patients suffering from cystic fibrosis would be able to breathe freely based on this discovery. Now, 30 years later, new drugs based on research findings have appeared one after another, and the treatment outcomes for cystic fibrosis patients are improving rapidly. It is truly embodying the transition from "Dare to Dream" to "Dreams Come True." Watching videos of Collins singing "Dare to Dream" together with patients at a gathering while playing his own music naturally brings up strong emotions.

On the other hand, spending my days here at the NIH among many brilliant researchers often makes me think about my "destiny" as a researcher—questions like "How much can I contribute to research?" and "What is my original research?" Yukichi Fukuzawa left behind words to the effect that "effort can even change destiny." While my own efforts are still far from enough to change "destiny," I feel that by placing myself at the world's most advanced research site and becoming friends and colleagues with many researchers from Japan and around the world, I have come to understand my "destiny" as a researcher a little better. In fact, this may be the greatest harvest of studying abroad. While "Dare to Dream" that patients suffering from pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease will one day forget their illness and breathe freely, I hope to advance research with some originality alongside my colleagues from around the world.