Shimadzu Corporation held a memorial lecture at Kyoto Hotel Okura on February 9, 2018 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Koichi Tanaka Mass Spectrometry Research Laboratory. Honorary Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi of Tokyo Institute of Technology, who received the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, was invited as guest speaker.
The Koichi Tanaka Mass Spectrometry Research Laboratory was established in January 2003. Koichi Tanaka of Shimadzu Corporation was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and is general manager of the laboratory.
In his special lecture, Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi talked on the theme, “My research in autophagy and the advancement of analytical technologies” and explained how analytical technologies help his research advance. Koichi Tanaka gave a presentation about his current research and future directions for his research laboratory. During its 15-year history, the research laboratory has collaborated with more than 40 research institutes and business partners, and produced 96 scientific articles including recent research into the establishment of high performance blood test of Alzheimer’s disease.
The memorial lecture, which was attended by about 170 people, was an opportunity for the laboratory to express gratitude to the many people and organizations that have provided support and encouragement.