In September, the BioTechnology Institute hosted back-to-back events with colleagues from Japan in an effort to build connections and collaborations in biotechnology research. The first, the North America-Japan Enzyme Technology Symposium, focused on advancing technologies in enzyme research from both industry and academia. The second, the BTI-University of Tokyo Joint Symposium, gathered researchers from both institutions to discuss their latest findings in biotech.
“The North America-Japan focus creates a smaller, more collaborative atmosphere; having both industry with staff from companies like Amano Enzyme, as well as academic speakers provides rare insight into commercialization,” says Romas Kazlauskas, a BTI faculty member and coordinator of the North America-Japan Enzyme Technology Symposium. “Focusing specifically on enzyme technology allows deeper technical discussions than broader biotech meetings.”
Space to have discussions and build relationships focused on biotech research is the impetus behind both events. In addition to offering this space, the fact that these are the second and third annual iterations of each symposium, respectively, also offer a beneficial opportunity to attendees.
“As the second annual meeting, the North America-Japan Enzyme Technology Symposium allows relationships from the first meeting to develop into actual collaborations - creating continuity that one-time conferences can't achieve,” Kazlauskas says.
The BTI-Tokyo Joint Symposium offered a similar opportunity to build relationships in the interest of greater collaboration.This exchange of ideas offered a chance for cross-institutional collaboration to bloom.
“Moving forward, we are interested in developing international collaborative research projects,” says BTI faculty member and symposium coordinator Satoshi Ishii. “During the faculty discussion, we identified several funding mechanisms to foster future collaborations, including those for collaborative research projects, sending and inviting researchers to and from Tokyo, and a sabbatical opportunity at the University of Tokyo.”
While focused on biotechnology research, Ishii and the other coordinators of the event also had broader aspirations for this event and for this collaboration moving forward.
“This symposium was more focused on research and cultural exchange, which is unique compared to other biotechnology conferences and workshops,” Ishii says. “There was great exchange between students and postdocs from BTI and those that came from Tokyo. I hope we can take BTI students and postdocs to Tokyo next time so that they can see a different culture and research environments.” -Lance Janssen