Chiba University, guided by the philosophy of "Always Aim Higher", is dedicated to nurturing individuals with high intellect and rich humanity who can excel as leaders in the global society, by providing excellent education as a premier academic institution. We have been selected for the "Program for Forming Japan’s Peak Research Universities", which allows us to strategically enhance our strengths in fields such as immunology, vaccine studies, and preventive medicine research. We are expanding into various disciplines within the university while focusing on applying our research outcomes to benefit society.  In April 2024, we also established the Graduate School of Informatics to cultivate talents capable of handling big data and artificial intelligence across various academic disciplines.

Our Inohana Campus, home to numerous research facilities including the Graduate School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Hospital, and Research Institute of Disaster Medicine, has been training global leaders in the medical-related fields. Since the launch of the program "Nurture of Creative Research Leaders in Immune System Regulation and Innovative Therapeutics" in 2012, one of the “Program for Leading Graduate Schools”, we have been fostering world-leading therapeutic researchers. In 2022, we were selected as the "Synergy Institute for Futuristic Mucosal Vaccine Research and Development" under the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development's "Japan Initiative for World-leading Vaccine Research and Development Centers", where we are developing effective, safe, and reliable mucosal vaccines. Building on these achievements, we have established comprehensive cooperation agreements with many foreign universities, such as the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) in the United States, enabling international faculty members to participate in research and doctoral training.

The rapid advancement of cutting-edge medical technologies has led to a paradigm shift in global healthcare. In Japan, with its rapidly aging society, the development of human resources is an urgent issue. Thus, in the “Innovative Medicine CHIBA Doctoral WISE Program (iMeC-WISE)”, we have established the Cluster-based CHIBA Education System based on the therapeutic researcher training program. By utilizing our university's Center for Artificial Intelligence Research in Therapeutics, we aim to cultivate creators of new medical knowledge, innovators who develop revolutionary therapies and drugs, and leaders who address social disparities in healthcare.

Under this new Cluster-based CHIBA Education System, we have set up six educational research clusters, organized by faculty members from many research fields, to cultivate panoramic views, creativity, and practical skills. By studying in two or more clusters, students will be trained to become doctoral talents equivalent to those with double majors overseas. We also offer educational programs in collaboration with the world's top research institutions.

We expect graduates of this program to not only create new medical knowledge and innovate in healthcare but also actively strive for self-improvement and become leaders in global healthcare with multifaceted perspectives, flexible thinking, high ethical standards, an innovative mindset, and a spirit of resilience and fearlessness of failure.

Chiba University will continue to strategically allocate resources and focus on enhancing the educational and research environment to further strengthen this excellent graduate program. We sincerely ask for your continued, tremendous support in this endeavor.

Since 2016, Chiba University has been recognized as a national university that promotes outstanding education, research, and social implementation of research achievements, and has strengthened its strategic functions. Starting from the 21st Century Center for Excellence (COE) Program adopted in 2006, followed by the Global COE Program (2008), and the Program for Leading Graduate Schools (2012), the university has continuously enriched education of the graduate schools in health and medicine related fields. Based on the experiences and achievements of these programs, the Innovative Medicine CHIBA Doctoral WISE Program (iMeC-WISE) was established in 2019. With the approval of the government, the program is now ready to start.

Developed countries including Japan have achieved increased longevity through the outstanding advances of cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, genomic medicine and diagnostics, and diagnosis and treatment using artificial intelligence. On the other hand, they are facing various problems such as the growth of medical expenditures, and health disparities and inequalities. In order to solve these problems, and to maintain a sustainable and healthy society, it is essential to unite separate disciplinary fields of “knowledge in medical sciences”, and to create innovations that lead to novel, safe, and effective therapies or disease prevention methods.

Establishing the Six Specialized Field Education System in cooperation with top-tier domestic and overseas universities, research institutes and corporations, iMeC-WISE fosters “human resources who will work on creation of medical innovations with comprehensive insights, flexible intelligence, challenging spirits, resilience, and innovative mind”. Besides our faculty members, we asked our visiting professors, who gathered from 26 domestic and overseas corporations, three government organizations, and 21 overseas universities and research institutes, for their cooperation to engage in the education of highly talented graduate students with diverse backgrounds. Program students will major in one of six specialized fields, and choose a minor in another field. Students in the Double Degree Course have chances to gain a PhD degree from University of California, San Diego as well as one from Chiba University. We hope that motivated students will participate in iMeC-WISE to become global leaders who create innovative medicines in the near future. As we all are willing to commit ourselves to the success of this program, we kindly ask for your support and cooperation.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has underscored the vulnerability of the global health system and the vital importance of both basic science and medicine. The rapid development of mRNA vaccines against the virus has been realized by persistent basic research. In addition to this global crisis, Japan, which is a super-aging country, must grapple with various issues. One pressing issue is to nurture leaders of medical innovation to build a sustainable healthier society where people live to be centenarians. 

Chiba University has produced many talented doctors who have made significant contributions to medicine worldwide. Among these are Prof. Komei Nakayama, who invented esophageal cancer surgery, and Prof. Tomio Tada, who expanded immunology. Based on this tradition of human resource development, the Innovative Medicine CHIBA Doctoral WISE Program (iMeC-WISE), which commenced education in 2020, aims to foster outstanding researchers who will create novel knowledge in medicine, innovators who will utilize that knowledge to develop new therapeutic agents and treatments that are safer and more efficacious, and policy makers who will apply AI and other technologies to correct social inequalities through various approaches. 

The iMeC-WISE is engaging in international collaboration in partnership with eight corporations and three research institutions including RIKEN, and four overseas universities including the University of California San Diego. Moreover, the iMeC-WISE has established a hub for human resource exchanges and joint research, bringing together educational and research expertise of the world’s highest level, organizing the Chiba Innovative Therapeutics International Program (CITIP), a global educational framework consisting of 21 overseas institutions, and the Chiba Innovative Therapeutics Industry Consortium (CITICO), a cross-sectoral educational framework with industry-government-academia collaboration, which includes 26 corporations and three government agencies.  

Students in the program are required to undertake independent study and research, and they take the initiative in planning and participating in scientific seminars and hands-on training in corporations and international organizations such as WHO. The iMeC-WISE provides students with generous financial support so that they can successfully complete either the Double Major PhD Course or the International Double Degree PhD Course. We sincerely welcome applications from motivated and dedicated students from various fields.