I am very pleased to say a few words of greeting at the opening of the symposium on "Molecular Cancer Therapeutics," which is being held in celebration of the 30-year history of cooperation in cancer research between the United States and Japan. As a representative of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, I wish to extend a most hearty welcome to all of you, the participants of this symposium.
We deeply appreciate you—leading cancer researchers and program administrators from the US and Japan—assembling here to celebrate this occasion with us today. Our sincere gratitude also goes to Dr. Harford and the staffs of NCI, who have worked devotedly to prepare this 30-year commemorative event. Thanks to their efforts, we are very pleased to be able to convene this symposium on the theme "Molecular Cancer Therapeutics."
Several years before the signing of the Agreement on Cooperation in Cancer Research between NCI and JSPS, the concept was spearheaded in a conversation between Dr. F. Rauscher and Dr. Tomizo Yoshida, who were at the time the directors of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research. Their initiative bore fruit in the launching of the cooperative program in 1974.
NCI became the program’s implementing agency on the US side, while JSPS accepted this role on the Japan side. That the program has not only endured but flourished for 30 long years is due to wholehearted veal of the cancer researchers in both countries; the dedicated efforts of the Joint Steering Committee in planning and implementing the program; and, not least of all, the cooperation, understanding and amicability accorded JSPS by the staff of NCI. For this, we are most grateful.
Thanks to this JSPS-NCI partnership, the Japan-US Cooperative Cancer Research Program has to date yielded many superb results across a spectrum of cancer-related research domains. At the same time, the program continues to advance cutting-edge initiatives and collaborations.
To commemorate this 30-year milestone and to express our thanks to all those who have carried the program to this point, we have compiled a booklet entitled "The 30th Anniversary of the Japan-US Cooperative Cancer Research Program." I am most pleased to pass a copy of it to each of you here today.
Through a series of negotiations with NCI, we have decided to add two new components to the cooperative program in fiscal year 2004. Building upon the program’s experience to date, we will form a future-oriented network among cancer research institutions, while launching a program of "joint research" for the purpose of promoting the active participation of young researchers, who will be tomorrow’s trailblazers, in international collaborations. I look forward to these enhancements contributing to the further development of the Japan-US Cooperative Cancer Research Program, as it plays its unique role in building a sustainable society—one in which people’s needs are met, while preserving the world’s environment and natural resources for future generations.
I conclude my remarks by wishing you the utmost of success in your discussions and interactions over the two days of this symposium.
Thank you.