Visit of Dean of FMIPA UI to Tokyo Institute of Technology, Discussing Research and Education Cooperation

Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI) Dede Djuhana, Ph.D. visited the School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute Technology (Tokyo Tech), Japan, on Thursday (25/5/2023).

During the visit, the Dean was accompanied by his staff consisting of the Vice Dean for Resources, Ventures and General Administration, Dr. Tito Latif Indra, M.Si; Head of the Mathematics Department, Prof. Alhadi Bustamam, M.Kom., Ph. D; Head of the Biology Department, Anom Bowolaksono, Ph.D.; and several teaching staff from the Mathematics Department and the Biology Department.

At the School of Life Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute Technology, the FMIPA UI delegates were warmly welcomed by the Dean of the School of Life Science and Technology, Professor Susumu Kajiwara, Ph.D., and Prof. Shun-ichiro Ogura, who is a research collaborator of Anom Bowolaksono, Ph.D.

Some important things discussed in the meeting included increasing cooperation in the field of research and increasing educational capacity between the two faculties, such as: student mobility oleh beberapa mahasiswa dari Departemen Biologi FMIPA UI yang telah berjalan sejak tahun 2014 hingga sekarang.

Meanwhile, in the field of research, Anom Bowolaksono, Ph.D. has also initiated research collaboration through an international grant funding scheme from The East Asia Science Innovation Area Joint Research Program (e-ASIA-JRP) for the implementation of activities in 2022 - 2024, with the topic "Promotion of Photodynamic Medicine for Cancer" in collaboration with Prof. Shun-ichiro Ogura.

Through this project, the two experts in the molecular field conducted research on aminolevulinic acid, the first compound in the porphyrin synthesis pathway, which is an amino acid and also an agent. photosensitizing as a breakthrough in cancer treatment, especially lung cancer.

"This cooperative research project aims to develop a new platform for aminolevulinic acid-based photodynamic therapy that can be used from early-stage cancer screening, diagnosis, to total cancer treatment. Simultaneously, we will screen and develop small molecules that can improve the efficiency of photodynamic therapy," said Anom.

This research, said Anom, is very important to develop in order to find various potential appropriate treatments. (Precision medicine).

The meeting also discussed the potential for research and education collaboration in the fields of bioinformatics, data science, and artificial intelligence.

"We hope that there will be more collaborations in the field of research and academics with our partners abroad. This is important in addition to expanding the international cooperation network, we certainly also want to strengthen the vision of FMIPA UI to become a leading science faculty that is able to compete globally and internationally, innovative, and competitive," said the Dean to the FMIPA UI Public Relations team.

News source : https://sci.ui.ac.id/