Welcome to the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo. We are honored to be given the chance to organize and host the IFPA 2018 Conference. Our university is located in the center of Tokyo, a city ripe with a rich academic atmosphere, Japanese tradition, and the liveliness of an economic and cultural mecca. Although your days will filled with exciting academic discourse, we are sure that you will find time to enjoy delicious Japanese meals, traditions, and culture at night.
Although I am a gynecologic oncologist, I was charmed by the fascinating work being done in placenta research. It is my hope that the basic research on the placenta shared at this conference will soon be translated into clinical practice. That is why I designated the theme for IFPA 2018 to be "Clinical Growth via Placenta".
We think we have been able to design a program in which you will be very satisfied. A Keynote Lecture will be delivered by Professor Dennis Lo. Professor Lo is the Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences and the Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and recipient of the prestigious Future Science prize. He will present on "Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT)".
We have also arranged for a Keynote Lecture to be given by Dr. Akihiro Umezawa, the director of Regenerative Medicine Center, and vice director of National Center for Child Health and Development. Dr. Umezawa will present on his ground-breaking work in stem cell research.
We have organized multiple symposiums covering topics ranging from genomic sequencing of placental tissue to tissue engineering. We have also set up 9 workshops entitled, "Extracellular vesicles in pregnancy", "Pre-eclampsia and the placenta", "Drug delivery in pregnancy", "Reproduction and placentation among ocean-living species", "Abnormally Invasive Placenta", "Impact of infection on placental biology", "Imaging of the Placenta", "Epigenetics" and "Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (GTD)".
Additionally, we have arranged a "Trophoblast Research Award Lecture", "NIH Award Lecture", "IFPA Andree Gruslin Award Lecture", "IFPA Senior Award Lecture", "Gabor Than Award Lecture", "New Investigator Presentations", "Early Career Session", and a newly designed "Mid Career session".
In addition to scientific content, we have prepared a fantastic Japanese style Welcome Reception, Early Career Researcher's (ECR) Social Meeting, and Gala Dinner. We hope you will make a lot of discoveries, learn valuable knowledge, and exchange interesting opinions among many researchers from many countries.
For those also interested in some sightseeing, Tokyo is full of charms. From the Jikei University, you can visit attractive areas including Ginza, Roppongi, Akihabara, Shibuya, Asakusa and Shinjuku etc., very easily. You can arrive at the Jikei University from Haneda Airport within 30 min., and from Narita Airport in 80 min. We hope that the IFPA 2018 Tokyo conference will be one you will never forget.
AIKOU OKAMOTO, M.D. Ph.D.
Chair, IFPA 2018
Chief Professor, Chairman
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
The Jikei University School of Medicine
