Presidential Greetings
The 64th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society will be held as a three-day conference from Friday, April 5, through Sunday, April 7, 2024, at Pacifico Yokohama North in Yokohama, Japan. It is a great honor to have been appointed to serve as president of the Japanese Respiratory Society with its distinguished history and tradition. This year will be the first time since the 37th Annual Meeting, which was presided over by my mentor, Dr. Takao Okubo, that Yokohama City University has taken the lead in arranging the conference. Everyone in our department is hard at work preparing for this monumental event.
On May 8, 2023, the novel coronavirus was reclassified as a Class 5 infectious disease, marking a turning point that has helped people return to life as it used to be before the pandemic. The main theme of this Annual Meeting is "Pulmonology in the Post-COVID-19 Era: From Port City Yokohama to the World and the Future." This theme embodies our desire, at the dawn of a new era, to amplify our passion for academics, gather our wisdom, and disseminate the latest evidence from the international city of Yokohama to the world and to the future. Rather than a virtual event, this year we are planning to hold the annual meeting face-to-face in Yokohama with the hope that this will spur lively discussion and the dynamic and stimulating exchange of information. Video of the programs will be made available on demand in the interest of providing those society members whose circumstances prevent attendance in Yokohama in person with an opportunity to learn and participate remotely.
Planning is underway to design programs, applying some of the efforts that I have had personal involvement in while serving on the Society's International Relations Committee, Committee on Gender Equality, Future Planning Committee, and Education Committee. More specifically, my hope is to further globalization, to make this a truly international symposium by providing a full lineup of lectures presented by experts from around the world, and also to facilitate exchange with ATS, ERS, and APSR. In addition, a symposium will be held on gender equality examining the topic "Women in Pulmonary Medicine - how to break the glass ceiling: What we can learn from China, US, and Japan" A Young Researcher symposium is also planned, which will be conducted by some of our younger physicians. Another highlight of this annual meeting will be "Koto-Hajime-Koshien (translation: National Tournament for Medical Students and Junior Residents)" featuring medical students and junior residents. Those students and residents who have demonstrated distinction at one of the society's regional branches (during the period from March to November 2023) will be invited to present their research in a friendly competition akin to a national tournament.
Numerous additional programs are planned that will be of interest to our members. We are preparing a symposium for the President's Special Program on lung regenerative medicine, a topic which has attracted great interest from just about everyone, where cutting-edge research into iPS-cell organ regeneration will be presented.
After the Annual Meeting, please be sure to sample the delicious cuisine of Yokohama and head out for some sightseeing as well.
In closing, I look forward to receiving many abstract submissions from our members. Please, make your way to Yokohama to participate in and enjoy this stimulating academic conference.
Takeshi Kaneko, M.D., Ph.D.
President of the 64th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society
Professor & Chairman, Department of Pulmonology
Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine
Supported by Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau