Presidential Greetings
The 63rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society will be a three-day conference, starting on Friday, April 28, 2023, to be held at Tokyo International Forum. At present, all sessions will be held on-site, but a change in Covid-19 cases may precipitate the need to conduct sessions online or make video available on-demand. Our aspiration is also for the annual meeting to take into account SDGs and environmental awareness. The Japanese Respiratory Society is Japan's largest academy dedicated to respirology with a membership of over 13,000. While it is a great honor to serve as the Congress president, I recognize the tremendous responsibility this position entails. Even as the society's members continue to be instrumental in the fight against Covid-19, this unprecedented infectious disease that has plagued our society for more than two years now since early 2020, they also have managed to steadily pursue their medical, educational, and scholarly practices. Our society fulfills a significant role in treating respiratory diseases, which often afflict the elderly. It is incumbent upon us to contribute to society through achievements in scholarly and social activities. With that in mind, the theme of this annual meeting will be the "Future of Pulmonology Pioneered by the Fusion of Knowledge." Respiratory diseases encompass oncological, allergic, obstructive pulmonary, pulmonary vascular and diffuse interstitial lung diseases, as well as respiratory tract infections and a broad range of other conditions. Researchers need to discuss and unify results of their research so that these achievements may quickly be put into practice and contribute to society in many areas. While it is true the pandemic has hindered scholarly work, it has also accelerated the introduction of online consultations, conferences, lectures, and adoption of IT tools in clinical, research, and educational settings. We now take for granted many of the IT and AI tools and platforms which we make use of in our consultations and research today. It is my sincere hope that this annual meeting will facilitate a "fusion of knowledge" as we exchange and share information about our research results and that this will accelerate our efforts to utilize these accomplishments in our practices. I also hope this annual meeting will allow us to discuss the "future of pulmonology." We have asked renowned journalist and liberal arts authority Professor Akira Ikegami to deliver the keynote address, in which he will examine the future of medical care and our post-Covid-19 world. Moreover, we have invited Dr. Hiroshi Nishimura, Professor at Kyoto University, to give a lecture on future Covid-19 epidemiological trends and Dr. Hideyuki Saya, Professor at Fujita Health University and President of the Japanese Cancer Association, to give an update on current cancer research and its future prospects. In addition, we have asked Dr. Heather Wakelee, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and President of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), to chronicle the latest clinical research on lung cancer, and Dr. Irina Petrache of National Jewish Health to recount the cutting edge of COPD research. As a Congress president, I have arranged several special programs, including a symposium on rare and intractable lung diseases, young researcher programs and symposiums, and many more engaging programs on the future of Covid-19 and other important topics.
This will be the fourth annual meeting of the society to enjoy the services and assistance of Juntendo University. The first was the 19th annual meeting in 1979 thanks to the late Professor Hiomi Honma, then the 34th annual meeting in 1994 owing to the late Professor Shiro Kira. The third occasion was the 41st annual meeting in 2001 with Professor Yoshinosuke Fukuchi. All Juntendo University medical staff will everything they can to make the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society a success. I hope many of you will apply to speak on a myriad of subjects and participate wholeheartedly in this conference.
Kazuhisa Takahashi, M.D., Ph.D.
President of the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society
Professor & Chairman, Department of Respiratory Medicine
Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine
Director, Juntendo Hospital