黑料吃瓜网

Interview and text: Megumi Maruyama (URA, Planning and Project Development Division, Academic Research & Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration)

Medical research environments come with challenges that differ from those in other disciplines—large-scale funding requirements, the need to balance education and clinical duties, and high hurdles for industry collaboration.

To respond to these needs, 黑料吃瓜网 established the Medical?and Healthcare Innovation Office (MIU) in 2019. MIU provides cross-cutting support for medical researchers, spanning competitive funding acquisition, industry collaboration, and interdisciplinary research development.

Six years on, how does this support reach researchers in practice? This article draws on interviews with Assistant Professor Nozomi Furukawa and Supervising Research Administrator Nahoko Sakaguchi to explore what medical research support looks like on the ground.

── How did MIU’s support begin?

Furukawa: In 2021, shortly after I joined 黑料吃瓜网, I applied for a foundation grant—and was rejected. That was when Ms. Sakaguchi reached out to me.

Sakaguchi: MIU was still in its early stages. We were exploring how to identify researchers who might benefit from support, and we realized that those who had missed out on competitive funding often had very concrete needs. So we decided to contact them proactively.

Furukawa: That message introduced me to the university’s research support system. I hadn’t realized there was a unit dedicated to industry collaboration as well—it felt like new paths suddenly opened up.

── Starting from rejection, then. What made you decide to seek support?

Furukawa: I felt a great deal of pressure to secure my own funding. It was my first faculty position, and I had limited experience with grant applications. Cardiovascular research is costly, so relying on  (Japan’s Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research) alone wasn’t realistic. I needed guidance on which grants to pursue and how.

── How many applications do you submit each year?

Furukawa: On average, about ten. In busier years, closer to twenty. That includes public funding and grants from companies and foundations.

Sakaguchi: Even among the researchers I support, that’s a high number.

Furukawa: Large-scale grants demand originality and careful positioning. With Sakaguchi’s input, I’ve learned how to sharpen my proposals and focus on what reviewers are really looking for.

── What kind of advice stands out?

Sakaguchi: A good example is funding from  (the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development). Each program has very specific requirements—target fields, research stages from basic to clinical, expectations for industry collaboration. If you miss those conditions, you simply won’t get funded.

Furukawa: And each AMED program expects a different kind of outcome. Some prioritize publications, others emphasize commercialization or partnerships. It’s hard to judge where your research fits. Hearing that “this program matches your work” helps me focus my efforts.

── What about advice that differs from your own thinking?

Furukawa: I’m fairly open to it. Ms. Sakaguchi is very straightforward—she says what needs to be said, without sugarcoating—and that makes her trustworthy. Once, she showed me a concrete budget estimate for a project I was planning. Vague ideas suddenly turned into something actionable.

Sakaguchi: I try to respond precisely to what researchers ask. When I sense they need more, I offer it—but I try not to push unnecessarily.

── MIU also showcases research seeds at exhibitions like BioJapan. You’ve participated, haven’t you?

Furukawa: Yes, in 2022. It led to some promising conversations, but some conversations stall when it comes to investment in basic research. Matching is harder than it looks.

── Is that a challenge specific to medical research?

Sakaguchi: Not exclusively. There’s often a gap in how universities and companies use the same words. Even “basic research” can mean different things. That mismatch can stop collaborations before they begin.

Furukawa: I really feel that wall. At the same time, I see the value of industry collaboration, and I’d welcome more opportunities to connect.

Sakaguchi: Projects move more smoothly when companies clearly articulate what they need. Creating mechanisms to pass those needs on to researchers—that’s a major challenge going forward.

── Your lab is based at the Daiko Campus, while MIU is at Tsurumai Campus. Has distance been an issue?

Furukawa: In my case, not really. I collaborate with a lab at Tsurumai, so I’m there often anyway.

Sakaguchi: Physical distance can make support harder to deliver. One of our ongoing challenges is how to identify researchers who don’t actively ask for help but still need it. We’re looking for new ways to reach them.

An unsuccessful grant application became the starting point for ongoing support and growth. At the same time, the question remains: how can research support address unspoken needs? The search for the next form of medical research support continues.