Community Co-creation Model

In January 2023, the Faculty of Health Sciences launched the “Ambitious Project” to advance the Community Co-creation Model initiative. The Project framework facilitates an environment where HU students and staff work closely with the elderly and people with disabilities in the local community.

Alongside the name change to “Gardening and Horticulture Project”, its committee and participants have worked in a team to create an inner garden with vegetable patches and flower beds in the Health Sciences complex. That satisfies the Project principles which focus on providing a venue and an opportunity for the participants to use their favorite skills to the fullest.

The Project, in more detail, aims to help participants from the local community and HU work together on campus with an age- and disability-inclusive perspective. We are trying to advance the participants’ health and fitness, wellbeing, self-positivity, quality of life, fulfillment of capacities as well as the social awareness of the diversity, equity and inclusion of the local community through cooperative gardening and related activities.

The Faculty of Health Sciences houses teams of academics/specialists teaching their field of expertise. With their efforts, our institute produces the next-generation professionals in 5 healthcare disciplines. We believe our Gardening and Horticulture Project can lead to educational and academic advancement in developing prevention programs for dementia and impairment progression, cross-disciplinary research on the challenges local communities face and advancing the Project to fieldwork educational programs in which students work with local communities.

The end-all objective of the Project lies in presenting a new positive example of community involvement and building a platform to create a positive spiral of education, research and effective solutions for community challenges.

Food and Nutrition for Health Promotion Department

The Food and Nutrition for Health Promotion Department was founded and initiated by the Watanabe Oyster Laboratory Co., Ltd, on January 1, 2010. We have continued to conduct research physiologically active substances on the Pacific Oyster extracts to be useful in prevention and treatment of oxidation-related diseases.

Biological Response and Regulation Department

The Biological Response and Regulation Department was offered on Sept. 2016. The laboratory is aimed primarily to study various biological stresses of cells/tissues/organs/bodies and their responses against the stresses, and also to regulate the biological stresses actively.

We would like to picture/propose an epochal life style to live strong and supple lives in a modern society, and to create a new concept of health sciences for a future life. We have already started to develop new bio-imaging technologies in Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Bio-Imaging (LMFBI) in Health Innovation Center. In this endowed department, we will systemically push a study ahead from a clinical point of view. (Transferred in Jan. 2024)

Data Health Innovation Department

We conduct research using receipt and health checkup data using advanced analytical methods such as AI and related surveys with the aim of supporting healthcare projects by local governments; 1) developing algorithms to predict the future incidence of lifestyle-related diseases and related medical costs, 2) developing programs to recommend that residents receive specific health checkups tailored to their individual attributes, and 3) developing tools to incorporate and visualize various types of data. By promoting these studies, we aim to support local governments and healthcare professionals in efficiently and effectively planning and implementing, and to contribute to the maintenance and improvement of communities’ health. (Terminated in Dec. 2023)

Emergent Neurocognition Department

The rapid increase in the prevalence of dementia constitutes a significant challenge to Japan, which is classified as a super-aging society. The number of Japanese patients with dementia is estimated to increase to approximately 7 million in 2025. Additionally, a nearly equal number of patients are diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, a condition or stage between the expected cognitive decline associated with normal aging and the more serious decline associated with dementia).

Healthy elderly individuals, those with MCI, and those with dementia have the potential to experience a better quality of life. We plan to work together with you to develop novel approaches to enhance well-being.

This department was founded by Dr. Kiyohiro Houkin (the current President of Hokkaido University), following intensive efforts since 2018. Currently, our work involves several areas of research, including the development of evaluation methods for cognitive function, development of tools for early detection of dementia/MCI, investigation of strategies to maintain and improve cognitive function and for visualization of cognitive function using functional brain imaging. (Terminated in Jun. 2023)