News

A student video made by a team from Tohoku University has been chosen as a finalist in the inaugural APRU Global Health Case Competition. Videos by teams from two other universities also made the cut - one from Kyoto University and the other from Our Lady of Fatima University in the Philippines.

For the competition, student teams from APRU member institutions submitted videos addressing global health problems and suggesting solutions. The videos were then judged on their creativity, and for the innovativeness and practicability of the solutions offered.

Tohoku University's team comprises Kota Sawaki (Faculty of Economics, 4th year), Ayaka Uchimura (Faculty of Medicine, 4th year), Shunsuke Kasai (Faculty of Medicine, 3rd year), Megumi Katayose (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 5th year), Jialing Shen (Faculty of Agriculture, 4th year) and Mayu Watanabe (Faculty of Economics 3rd year).

Under the supervision of Professor Hitoshi Oshitani of the Graduate School of Medicine, they created a video showing the use of virtual reality in disaster education.

Tohoku University's video entry, together with those of the other two finalists, will be screened at the next APRU Global Health Program Workshop, and a winner will be chosen by attending APRU members. The event will take place from September 28 - October 1 at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

APRU: Association of Pacific Rim Universities

APRU was founded in 1997 to create an association of premier research universities around the Pacific Rim region to foster cooperation in education and research in areas including but not limited to economic development, science and technology, human resource development, education and environmental protection. Currently there are 45 member universities. Tohoku University joined in 2008 and President Satomi has served as a Steering Committee member since 2015.

IRIDeS: International Research Institute of Disaster Science

Tohoku University's International Research Institute of Disaster Science has functioned as a knowledge hub for research in the multi-hazards field since April, 2013.