Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) and Keio University will host a joint lecture on the theme, “Rethinking Actions Against AMR: From Research to Policy, From Japan to the World”

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a fundamental threat to modern medicine and is recognized as a global challenge. Infections caused by AMR are increasing both in Japan and worldwide, and it is projected that, without effective countermeasures, AMR could claim up to 10 million lives annually by 2050. To advance effective AMR countermeasures, a whole-of-society approach that transcends medical institutions, pharmacies, and research laboratories is required. Furthermore, the fight against AMR and other infectious diseases cannot be addressed by any country alone; it is essential to promote comprehensive and holistic AMR measures through international collaboration, based on the recognition that the interests of each country are closely linked with those of the global community.

Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) and AMR Alliance Japan have been working to promote AMR countermeasures both domestically and internationally by collaborating with diverse stakeholders from industry, government, academia, and civil society. Through policy recommendations and dialogue, these organizations have contributed to the advancement of AMR measures. As part of our efforts, this lecture, “Addressing AMR: From Research to Policy, From Japan to the World,” will invite leading domestic and international experts at the forefront of AMR research andpolicy to share the latest research findings, policy trends, and practical examples from the field. By engaging with the next generation, this lecture aims to explore new possibilities for research, policy, and international collaboration to solve the global challenge of AMR.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ho Namkoong and Dr. Yoshifumi Uwamino from the School of Medicine, Keio University, and Dr. Jennifer Cohn from Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP). Dr. Namkoong will speak on the importance and challenges of clinical research in infectious diseases, and prospects of our fight against AMR. Dr. Uwamino will discuss the significance and role of testing and diagnosis in AMR countermeasures. Dr. Cohn will address the latest trends in antibiotic research and development from a global health perspective, the current status and challenges of equitable access in low- and middle-income countries, and the importance of policy responses. By sharing experiences and the latest knowledge from clinical and research settings, from low- and middle-income countries, and through active exchange of opinions, this event aims to advance AMR countermeasures and generate practical solutions.

 

 

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Wednesday, October 1, 2025; 18:00-19:30 JST (Doors Open: 17:45)
• Venue: Large Meeting Room, Floor 11, 2nd Building, Shinanomachi Campus, Keio University (Keio University Hospital)
  (Address: 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan)
• Format: In-Person
• Languages: Japanese and English, with Simultaneous Interpretation
• Participation Fee: Free
• Organized by:
  Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
  AMR Alliance Japan
  Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Keio University
• In Collaboration with:
  GARDP (Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership)
  AMR Clinical Reference Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security

 

[Program] (Titles omitted)

18:00-18:05 Welcome and Opening Remarks

Yui Kohno (Manager, HGPI / AMR Alliance Japan)

18:05-18:15 Lecture 1 “Tackling AMR: Think Globally, Act Locally” 

Ho Namkoong (Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Keio University)

18:15-18:30 Lecture 2 “Diagnostic Stewardship in AMR” 

Yoshifumi Uwamino (Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University)

18:30-19:00 Lecture 3 “Research on Antibiotics and its Equitable Access: Delivering Insights from Clinical Medicine, Pharmacy, and Microbiology to the International Community” *TBD

Jennifer Cohn (Global Access Director, GARDP)

19:00-19:25 Q&A Session

19:25-19:30 Closing Remarks

Naoki Hasegawa (Deputy Director General, Yokohama Municipal Citizen’s Hospital)
Ho Namkoong (Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Keio University)

 

[Profile]

Jennifer Cohn (Global Access Director, GARDP)
Dr. Jennifer Cohn is an infectious disease physician with a focus on improving access to and uptake of effective health products and models of care in low- and middle-income countries. She currently serves as the Director, Global Access for the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), and is a clinical associate professor of Infectious Diseases and Scholar at the Center for Global Health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Before joining GARDP, Jennifer served as Senior Vice President for cardiovascular health at Resolve to Save Lives, Senior Director of Innovation at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and as the Medical Coordinator for the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Access Campaign. Jennifer has served on international advisory groups for TB, HIV, non-communicable diseases and viral hepatitis. She has published over 90 papers in peer-reviewed medical journals.  Jennifer received her MD from University of Pennsylvania, is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and earned her Masters in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. 

Ho Namkoong (Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Keio University)
Ho Namkoong is an infectious disease physician specializing in translational research on respiratory infections, particularly nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) diseases and COVID-19. He currently serves as Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Keio University School of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Infectious Diseases Center at Keio University Hospital. In these roles, he is dedicated to building interdisciplinary and international research platforms aimed at controlling infectious diseases.
After graduating from Keio University School of Medicine, he completed his clinical training at Asahi General Hospital and pursued postdoctoral research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH. Upon returning to Japan, he rejoined Keio University. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as Executive Secretary of the “COVID-19 Task Force,” where he led one of Japan’s largest cohort studies and genomic analyses. Currently, he leads the “Next Pandemic Task Force,” which is focused on establishing an integrated research framework that combines clinical data, biobanking, and multi-omics analysis.
In the field of NTM, he leads an international research consortium and is actively engaged in global collaborations, particularly with research institutions in Asia and Africa.

Yoshifumi Uwamino (Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University)
Yoshinori Uemino is a board-certified infectious disease physician who plays a central role in clinical practice at Keio University Hospital. He serves as the Head of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Infection Control Department, where he is responsible for both the operation of the microbiology laboratory and hospital-wide infection control and infectious disease management.
In the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, he has led the development of a pioneering diagnostic system that emphasizes automation and rapid testing. At the same time, he is committed to optimizing diagnostic strategies by eliminating unnecessary tests from the perspective of an infectious disease specialist. Leveraging the unique strengths of the laboratory, he also actively engages in a wide range of clinical and translational research.

Naoki Hasegawa (Deputy Director General, Yokohama Municipal Citizen’s Hospital)
Naoki Hasegawa has long been a leading expert in the clinical practice and research of respiratory infections, particularly mycobacterial diseases such as tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections. As the former President of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, he has made significant contributions to the advancement of infectious disease medicine and the development of human resources in Japan. As former Professor of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Keio University School of Medicine, he has promoted a broad spectrum of research—including basic science, clinical studies, and epidemiological investigations—focused on respiratory infections. In particular, he has been instrumental in the development of clinical practice guidelines and in leading educational and public awareness efforts related to mycobacterial diseases. He has also spearheaded numerous investigator-initiated clinical studies and played a key role in building the foundation for translational research in Japan’s infectious disease field. As a highly respected mentor, he has nurtured many outstanding young physicians and researchers, contributing to the growth of the infectious disease community both in Japan and globally.

■ Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
HGPI is a non-profit, independent, non-partisan health policy think tank established in 2004. In its capacity as a neutral think-tank, HGPI involves stakeholders from wide-ranging fields of expertise to provide policy options to the public to successfully create citizen-focused healthcare policies. Looking to the future, HGPI produces novel ideas and values from a standpoint that offers a wide perspective. It aims to realize a healthy and fair society while holding fast to its independence to avoid being bound to the specific interests of political parties and other organizations. HGPI intends for its policy options to be effective not only in Japan, but also in the wider world, and in this vein the institute will continue to be very active in creating policies for resolving global health challenges. HGPI’s activities have received global recognition. It was ranked second in the “Domestic Health Policy Think Tanks” category and third in the “Global Health Policy Think Tanks” category in the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report presented by the University of Pennsylvania (as of January 2021, the most recent report).

■ AMR Alliance Japan
AMR Alliance Japan is an independent platform for the promotion of multisector discussion on AMR countermeasures. Since its establishment in November 2018, AMR Alliance Japan has worked with Alliance members and partner organizations to deepen policy debate around AMR. Current Members (in alphabetical order, as of June, 2025) are bioMérieux Japan Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline K.K., Himeji City, Japan Medical Association, Japan Pharmaceutical Association, Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Japanese Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Japanese Society of Antimicrobials for Animals, Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Society of Hospital Pharmacists, “Kodomo to lryo” Project, Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., Merck &Co., Inc., Nippon Becton, Dickinson and Company, Ltd., Pfizer Japan Inc., Shimadzu Diagnostics Corporation, Shionogi & Co., Ltd., The Japanese Society for Medical Mycology, The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, The Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology, The Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control, The Japanese Society of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences, The Japanese Society of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) serves as Secretariat of the Alliance.

■ Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Keio University 
The Department of Infectious Diseases at Keio University School of Medicine promotes a broad spectrum of infectious disease research through a unique organizational structure that seamlessly integrates basic and clinical sciences. Our activities include studies utilizing clinical specimens and span diverse areas within the field of infectious diseases.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we led translational research in collaboration with over 100 hospitals across Japan. In close partnership with the Infection Control Department and the Clinical Infectious Disease Center at Keio University Hospital, we have also been at the forefront of key hospital-based initiatives, including infection prevention and control, as well as antimicrobial stewardship.
Looking ahead, our department will continue to serve as a center for training future infectious disease specialists and as a hub for clinical trials and research that contribute to drug and vaccine development. We are committed to playing a central role not only in Japan, but also across Asia and the global health landscape.

■ Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP)
GARDP is a not-for-profit global health organization driven to protect people from the rise and spread of drug-resistant infections, one of the biggest threats to us all. By forging the public and private partnerships that matter, we develop and make accessible antibiotic treatments for people who need them. Vital support for our work comes from the governments of Canada, Germany, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Canton of Geneva, the European Union, as well as the Gates Foundation, Global Health EDCTP3, GSK, the RIGHT Foundation, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Wellcome. We are GARDP, the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership. GARDP is registered under the legal name GARDP Foundation.

■ AMR Clinical Reference Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan Institute for Health Security
The AMR Clinical Reference Center was established in April 2017 as a project commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, with the aim of implementing initiatives based on the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). In line with the action plan, the Center engages in educational and awareness-raising activities for healthcare professionals and the general public. These include organizing training programs, developing educational materials, disseminating information through websites, and providing e-learning opportunities. In addition, the Center has developed a surveillance platform related to AMR, including monitoring infectious diseases, infection control practices, and antimicrobial usage within healthcare facilities. The Center also supports regional collaboration efforts. Since many aspects of AMR remain unclear, the Center is actively involved in conducting research to establish more effective countermeasures against AMR.