JCR International School 2015

Dates: July 30 (Thu.) ‐ August 1 (Sat.), 2015
Place: Karuizawa Prince Hotel West, Nagano, Japan

 Contents

•  Participants’ Voice
•  Photographs
•  Organizing Committee
• Timetable
• Program

 Participants Voice

Tracy Yaner Zhu Hong Kong

It has been a great pleasure for me to attend the 3rd JCR International School in Karuizawa. At first, the 15-minute Q&A thing scared me a little, especially when I was the first one to present and my tutor, Prof. Ikeda, came up to me and said he was going to fill up that 15 minutes with questions even if there was none from the audience. Honestly, I’ve never had encountered such a long Q&A session before. But it turned out to be my favorite experience during the school. The lively discussion offers a great opportunity for sharing inspiring ideas and exchanging views, through which we were all inspired to strive for excellence. I could feel the passion for science from the audience, be it senior or junior in research, and it affected you. The atmosphere at the school was absolutely delightful and one had so much to learn from the others. I would like to congratulate the organizers for such a well-structured schedule and I would definitely recommend this school to any young rheumatologists. This school is not an ordinary meeting or conference. It is a place for knowledge, science, inspirations, and friendship.

Takayuki Katsuyama Japan

　I sincerely appreciate everyone giving me the opportunity to join the JCR International School 2015. I felt uneasy before arriving at Karuizawa, because I had absolutely no confidence to survive in such challenging presentation and discussions in English. However, I really enjoyed these 3 days.
　All questions for my presentation were quite constructive and suggestive, and the discussion gave me new directivities for my future research. Lectures by Prof. Jego, Prof. Shen and Prof. Tanaka were impressive and very helpful. Not only scientific discussions but also daily talks with young rheumatologists from throughout Japan and foreign countries were quite interesting and meaningful. I could make new friends, and I believe that we will improve ourselves through friendly rivalry in future. I am looking forward to seeing them again.
　I will strongly recommend that my colleagues should join this great international school next year. I would like to express my sincere appreciation again to JCR international committee for giving me this challenging but wonderful opportunity. I hope this school will continue in the future.

Shuntaro Saito Japan

At first, I would like to thank the steering committee for great opportunity to participate in this meeting, and I appreciate my tutor and all the participants for giving me wonderful advices and suggestion. The seminar was very fun and exciting. On the other hand, I pause to realize the need to improve my presentation and English communication. We enjoyed the discussion on each presentation and our research. At my presentation, a lot of question and suggestion more than I expected were given to me, it was very precious time. We also took pleasure in dinner party and made friends each other, including foreign colleagues. At the end of the meeting, we toured the imperial palace with some foreign friends, that was great memory. We hope to keep in touch with our friends after this meeting. I can strongly recommend the participation to this JCR seminar for those who have not yet, and hope this seminar will continue. Thank you very much.

Tadashi Hosoya Japan

It was a great pleasure to have an opportunity of participating the JCR international school. At the moment of my presentation, I was so nervous that I could not see the responses of the audiences. I realize that I need more experiences and exercises of talking in English. However, I was really satisfied with discussing various scientific problems and talking with each participant frankly. I believe that we shared our experiences and worries each other and learned something from them.
Fortunately, I took several useful advices about my carrier as well as my research problems. These excellent experiences made me encouraged to determine going abroad in near future.

Takashi Matsuo Japan

　It was my pleasure to join in 2015 JCR international school, which was my first time to make an oral presentation in English. My tutor, Prof Kameda gave me good advises to blush up my presentation in a short period of time. Through this international school, I learned the importance of making clear and simple slides so that researchers who have different backgrounds can understand my research easily. I realized the lack of communication skills too, that’s why, I will try hard to practice oral conversation. In the future, I could do a hot discussion with the participants at an international conference.
　 Finally, I’d like to thank for all the people who joined this international school.

Shigeru Iwata Japan

It was a great opportunity for me to join the JCR international school in this summer. I belong to the First Department of Internal Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan. I performed a research presentation titled “The importance of B cell-T cell interaction in autoimmune diseases”. Many rheumatologists who have a specialty in various rheumatic field gathered from all over the world, and each presentation was well prepared and the discussion was also impressive. Chairmen and tutors also gave us many valuable comments and suggestions. This was a second time to be lead from Prof. Kameda followed by Midwinter school 4 years ago.
Again, thank you very much. I learned a lot about current rheumatology topics from basic science to clinical rheumatology. Especially, the keynote lecture by Prof. Shen from Shanghai University was so interesting for me, because my recent project is the effect of IFNs to lymphocyte. I really appreciate the committee for such precious experience. I hope following researchers will participate this international school and get special experience.

Won Seok Lee South Korea

First of all, I appreciate inviting us to the 2015 JCR International School.
It was time for me to have good experience.
Actually, while I so far studied rheumatology, hardly did I have time to converse with those from other nations. Neither did I have many experiences of presenting research assignments and discussing them enough.
Through this chance, however, I learned to talk about my thoughts and gain better results through discussion with those with differing views.
I was a bit dismayed because participants’ academic level was higher than I had thought. Each of them took pride in his/her field and confidently expressed their ideas. But as time passed, their passion and pride became a good stimulant to me and an example for my future direction.
Also, I was able to meet good Japanese friends through this chance. I’d like to give special thanks to Kazuyuki Meguro in Chiba University, with whom I had much talk on rheumatology and Hiroyuki Takahashi in The University of Tsukuba, with whom I had much time in Tokyo and karuizawa.
Once again, I’d like to say I was privileged to attend JCR International School and I want to join good programs in days coming.

Toshiyuki Watanabe Japan

First of all, I appreciate the JCR International School Committee giving me the opportunity to present my research.
Before the meeting, I was afraid that I could not contact to foreigners by English well. However, all of the participants were friendly so that I could attend the meeting without any fear of failure. At my presentation, the attendees asked me more questions than I expected. Although I could not answer the questions well, it was no doubt that this experience must be useful for my future carrier.
I enjoyed not only the research session but also the dinner party. At the party, with drinking tasty liquor, we talked a lot about our research, future life plan, and so on. We developed wonderful friendship each other through all of the programs.
Through the meeting, my communicating skills in English are developed and I have a confidence to contact with foreigners.
I will strongly recommend my colleagues to participate in this seminar next year. Finally, I thank all of the members in this school and I am looking forward to meeting again.

Hiroyuki Takahashi Japan

First of all, I thank our tutors and the JCR international committee for giving me an opportunity to attend JCR International School 2015.
It was a great pleasure for me to make a presentation of my research and to discuss with many experts in rheumatology.
　I made many friends involved in the same field through this meeting and received great advices from our tutors and the participants. These were my precious experiences that cannot be gained in my daily work. We talked and exchanged information about many issues including our research in English not only in presentation sessions, but also in a welcome party or other break time. Therefore it was also a great opportunity to practice English.
　I would like to recommend the participation to the JCR International School for many researchers interested in this field. I hope this wonderful meeting will continue long. Thank you very much.

Shio Kobayashi Japan

It was my great pleasure to attend the JCR International School 2015. I really appreciate tutor, staff and organizers.
I did a valuable experience to learn about presentation in English by this seminar. Presentation and sufficient discussion let me know the difficulty of conveying my thoughts in English and let me promise to improve an English skill. The communication with other participants, especially invited persons from foreign countries, were very valuable for me, and I could know about their research and other thing. This wonderful experience further encouraged and motivated me in my studies.
Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity, and I will strongly suggest the participation in this school. I hope this school will continue and become the place of good education.

Yi-Ming Chen Taiwan

Just coming back Taiwan from Tokyo, I experienced a great impact from the JCR international school, 2015. I am impressed by the participants’ and tutors’ passion in research. Extensive discussion after everyone’s presentation is unexpected to me and I found it the most fruitful. As a research beginner, I could learn from the viewpoints of tutors and classmates. Suddenly, the level of my vision was upgraded and broadened. Participants from Japan, Asian countries and other parts of the world gathered together for 3 days and exchanged research ideas. I also got to know health care and medical education systems of other countries. I had more chances to know what I am lacking in research and what to learn from the peers. I am grateful to Professor Takeuchi and JCR for inviting me. For those who are invited to the JCR international school in the future, I strongly recommend you to participate. I bet you won’t regret it.

Wataru Fujii Japan

I was pleased to have an opportunity to attend JCR2015 International School. I was lectured for English presentation skill and Rheumatology, and had presentation of our research and a lot of discussion. I had felt difficulty on speaking and listening English at international conferences before attending this school, and it was the reason why I decided to apply for this school. After this three-day-school, I have became familiar with English and eager to speak and listen English. More than training English skill, it was great experience to get to know young scientists from foreign countries and all over Japan and to have exciting discussion with them. I’ve got some precious friends through this school. Every participant discussed each presentation very actively and I was very impressed. I hope myself to interest any other participant. Finally, I appreciate the organizing committee members for giving me such exciting experience. I recommend every potential participant to apply for this school for not only training English but also getting to know many scientists around the world.

Hideki Ito Japan

I am Hideki Ito from Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Japan, Tokyo. It was my great pleasure to have the opportunity to participate in JCR International School 2015 in Karuizawa. I really enjoyed listening to inspiring lectures and presentations. In my presentation time, I was very nervous because this was my first time to give a presentation in English. This opportunity made me notice the area lacking in my English skill. This experience will be my future property. Wonderful experiences came in a cool wind of Karuizawa. Thank you very much.

Fumio Hirano Japan

It was a real pleasure giving a presentation in the JCR international school 2015. It was a rare, but great opportunity to receive constructive feedback from international participants and experts. I appreciate that the topics were well-balanced on basic and clinical research. Discussion was very active on both types of research. It was also interesting to see how other participants deliver their presentations and interact with the audience. I hope there continues to be this kind of international program in JCR.

Diane van der Woude The Netherlands

It was a privilege to be able to attend the JCR International School 2015 in Karuizawa. As a foreign guest (from Leiden, the Netherlands) I was not quite sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the lectures and the friendly, open atmosphere. The programme included plenty of time for interactions with the other participants and it was very nice to notice that we had so many things in common as young rheumatologists from different countries. The famous faculty members/tutors made very valuable contributions to the quality of the scientific discussion but also to the joyful and very social atmosphere in the evenings.
In conclusion, it was a great experience that I would certainly recommend to others.

Kazuyuki Meguro Japan

It was a great privilege for me to attend JCR International Summer School 2015 in Karuizawa, and I would like to thank the organizing committee of JCR and the participants from all over the world. First of all, the lecture “Improving our oral presentation” by Mr. E. H. Jego was very exciting and informative, and it totally changed my concept of oral presentation. And I was really impressed by the key note lectures by Dr. Nan Shen and Dr. Yoshiya Tanaka, the two leading researchers in the world. The scientific programs contained many important sessions in both clinical and experimental rheumatology. We had much fun in the evening party.
Actually, I found it difficult for me to understand the presentation in English on the first day, but I could get used to them gradually. On the third day, I finally managed to make my presentation and discuss with other researchers in English for 30 min!! It was very tough, but pleasant experience for me.
I’ll never forget the valuable meeting and the beautiful summer in Karuizawa. I really recommend the young rheumatologists to attend this meeting and communicate with other researchers from all over the world. It will be great experience. Thank you.

Toshihiko Komai Japan

It was my pleasure that I had an opportunity to participate in JCR international school 2015. First of all, this seminar was quite attractive in that we could closely exchange opinions between international rheumatologists in different research fields. Regardless of day and night, we exchanged views frankly about each research topic, clinical trials, health care system, and private matters. I could learn many things through the discussion how to disclose the pathogeneses, discover new therapeutic options and improve the existing treatments for various collagen diseases.
Also, the lectures and presentations made me realize the significance and concrete design of oral presentation. I keep in mind the different characteristics between writing/ reading scientific papers and conducting presentation for improving the presentation.
Finally, I really appreciate the educative environments and hospitality tendered by the professors, tutors, and organizing committee members. I fortunately gain many domestic and foreign friends engaging in rheumatology through this seminar. The experiences in this seminar will become subservient to my research and clinical skills.

Gerhard Krönke Germay

The JCR provided me with a great opportunity to meet young rheumatology fellows from all around the world. It combined a relaxed atmosphere with the possibility for in depth scientific discussion. I was deeply impressed by the scientific spirit and the quality of the research presented at the JCR (which holds true for both basic and clinical research). In addition, I greatly enjoyed the excellent Japanese food as well as the drinks and get-togethers in the evenings.

Shuzo Sato Japan

It was my great pleasure to participate in JCR International School, 2015. As scientific level of this meeting was very high, sometimes it was difficult to catch up with stories of presentations. But the high-level discussion gave me a lot of inspiration and new insights of science, as well as good exercise of English presentation. After the meeting we enjoyed a nice dinner and touched different cultures by talking with foreign participants. I recommend young rheumatologists and immunologists to participate this meeting because it is a good opportunity to increase your English skills as well as quality of your study. And you can meet great rheumatologists in Japan! Finally, I thank to all JCR committee members to organize such a wonderful meeting.

Sofia Ramiro The Netherlands

I had the honour to be invited to the JCR International School 2015 as an international speaker. I did not know what to expect, but was naturally enthusiastic with this exciting and kind invitation. The experience revealed to be even better. What a nice and didactic initiative! And so ‘easy’ to do: bring together young (national and international) researchers and let them present and discuss with each other their research projects, as well as get critical input from senior well-recognized and highly-experienced rheumatologists and researchers. The end result can only be one: a unique learning experience for everyone. Interesting debates took place, made us learn and brainstorm together on relevant issues and research projects. Ultimately, all projects presented could benefit from having received critical input. Interestingly, research collaborations, even at an international level, and as early as at the stage of young researchers, can start from these meetings and it is fantastic to see how JCR stimulates and supports all this. Such an initiative is a very good example for many other national rheumatology societies on ways of investment in education in research of young rheumatologists/researchers in rheumatology.
I felt tremendouly welcome in the meeting, and the hospitality of Japanese colleagues could not have been better. I truly enjoyed the meeting and my travel to Karuizawa/Japan. Excellent organisation as well! I hope such an initiative can continue and being as fruitful. It was a big pleasure to have the opportunity to participate!

Photographs

JCR International School Committee