Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)

AMED supports collaborative research projects at our 10 overseas research centers, located in infectious disease endemic areas. These centers are operated by Japanese universities in 7 Asian countries (China, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, India) and 3 African countries (Ghana, Zambia, DRC). Epidemiology, cohort studies and genome sequencing are conducted via these research centers, strengthening human resources and building strong collaboration with local research institutions and government agencies. The work carried out by this program is contributing to the development of new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

AMED promotes international collaborative research projects on infectious diseases:

• Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP): A joint call implemented in 2019 with UK-MRC and based on inter-ministerial agreements with other countries. 8 joint research projects are being conducted between 2020 and 2022.
• e-ASIA Joint Research Program: A joint call is implemented annually. The aim is to solve issues commonly shared across Asia on cancer and infectious diseases through multilateral collaboration.
• U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program: Launched more than 50 years ago under a bilateral agreement between the United States and Japan, this program promotes U.S.-Japan collaboration on 10 different disease areas including viral diseases, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and Parasitic diseases.
• Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) is an international project for collaborative research that, alongside official development assistance (ODA), aims to resolve global-scale issues with developing countries. AMED leads the research carried out in the field of infectious disease control.
• International Collaborative Research Program for Tackling the NTDs (Neglected Tropical Diseases) Challenges in African countries aims to contribute to the control of NTDs. It covers medical and public hygiene research and development, ranging from basic research to the establishment of methods for diagnosis, surveillance, prevention, drug discovery and treatment.

Various research projects and activities are ongoing to prepare for, or respond to, future epidemics and pandemics.

In one of these projects, we have established networks among research institutes in Asian countries to promote collaborative research for epidemiological and pathogenic analysis for disease agents and to develop diagnostic tests. This means that accurate and reliable data can be shared among the network countries.

In another project, Japan is working with other Asian countries to develop human resources for clinical trials, to establish systems based on the needs of major hospitals, and build clinical trial networks. In addition, we promote regulatory harmonization, international joint clinical research and clinical trials in Japan and Asian countries.

AMED fosters international collaboration on medical research and development and has forged partnerships with NIH / NAM in the U.S., MRC in U.K., NHMRC in Australia, CIHR in Canada, SEIDI/AEI in Spain, A*STAR in Singapore, NordForsk in Finland, Norway and Sweden, and the Ministry of Health in Lithuania. In addition, AMED participates in various international alliances and consortia to strengthen multilateral collaboration.

• ASRT is committed to supporting collaborative research in Africa and the Mediterranean area. Our specialized award program recognizes scientific excellence in Africa by awarding annual prizes to eminent African researchers.
• ASRT acts as the main technical branch of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank which is the world’s largest digital library and online repository. The Bank provides massive scientific resources exclusively to Egyptians while promoting open science and research integrity.
• ASRT is a main publisher in the region and coordinates a large number of journals and local periodicals including the Egyptian Journal of Microbiology, Egyptian Journal of Chemistry, Middle East Journal of Therapeutic Nutrition and Complementary Medicine, Egyptian Journal of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, and the Egyptian Journal of Radiation Sciences and Applications.

• Responding rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, ASRT published a strategic study entitled ‘COVID and Post-COVID Priorities and Preparedness of Science, Technology and Innovation in Egypt’. One of the main recommendations of this study was the need to establish an Egyptian Reference Genome to continue advancing knowledge in personalized and precision medicine. Sound knowledge of the Egyptian genome and related diseases is essential to direct effective preventive, diagnostic and counselling services for prevalent genetic diseases in Egypt.

  Following a competitive call from ASRT for the ‘Egypt Genome project’, a consortium, headed by the Egypt Center for Research and Regenerative Medicine (ECRRM), was awarded the grant. The national project for Egyptian reference genome was launched in 2021 with the support of ASRT and total Egyptian governmental funding of $62 million for the first 5 year phase.

  The aim of the project is to establish a benchmark genome centre, create a map of the Egyptian human genome, and thereby discover and accurately determine the genetic characteristics of various diseases. The project’s scope covers three categories: the population genome, the genome of ancient Egyptians, and diseased genome.

  By advancing the practice of medical genetics and genomics across the country through this large-scale project, ASRT is shifting the approach from ‘one-size-fits-all’ to more personalized healthcare.

ASRT has participated in several co-funded programs including EuroNanoMed and EraPerMED and key initiatives such as Africa-PerMed. ASRT is a member of JPIAMR and the new ERA4HEALTH.