Throughout my many years of clinical practice as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, I have cared for many patients whose conditions could not be fully addressed by surgery alone.

Reconstructive surgery in plastic surgery plays an important role in improving patients’ function and appearance, and in supporting their quality of life. However, reconstruction is not the same as true regeneration, and it is not easy to completely restore lost tissues or functions to their original state. In some cases, treatment also involves sacrifice at the donor site. I have also encountered patients who continue to suffer from recurrent symptoms or functional impairment even after surgery.

These experiences have become, for me, not merely clinical challenges, but important questions that should be addressed through research. For example, while surgical treatments for lymphedema are currently performed, they cannot yet be regarded as curative therapies. In order to further reduce the burden on patients, it is necessary to develop minimally invasive and more fundamental treatment approaches, including lymphatic vessel regeneration.

Building on my clinical experience as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, I aim to develop new therapeutic strategies for unresolved diseases and conditions in the field of plastic surgery. By identifying research questions from the realities faced by patients, and by integrating basic research, data analysis, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery technologies, I hope to overcome the limitations of surgical treatment and create medical innovations that can be returned to clinical practice.

My journey into diabetes research began during my third year of medical school. As an undergraduate, I was invited by a professor who lectured on diabetes to become the head of the ward for diabetic monkeys. I initiated serious research immediately after becoming a physician. Diabetes is an incurable disease once contracted, and there was no research theme on how it could be naturally cured. All research focused on achieving better blood sugar control to prevent the progression of diabetes and its complications.

During my postgraduate studies, I gained a comprehensive understanding of the disease called diabetes. However, the more I researched the relationship between blood sugar control and diabetic complications, the more I encountered the fundamental question of “Why can’t diabetes be cured?” This persistent question often plunged me into deep darkness. I decided to confront this unspoken question head-on. In recent years, various challenges have been resolved through my research, revealing that diabetes is caused by stem cell abnormalities, similar to cancer. We have identified a potential ultimate goal for the research: diabetes can be treated using the same methods as cancer. This realization took nearly 40 years.

This research has been driven by my unique perspective, with few researchers employing the same approach. If I were to halt this research, the opportunity to save many lives would be significantly delayed. However, the institution has a well-established system for joint research courses, allowing us to continue our work. We will make every effort to implement this research into society as quickly as possible.

A joint research course is a system where universities and private institutions collaborate on common issues as equal partners. Universities receive researchers and research funding from private institutions, strengthening external cooperation and aiming to produce outstanding research results. Utilizing this system, we will strive for further research advancements and contributions to society.