Current President’s Message
Prof. Ken-ichi Inui, Ph.D.
Kyoto Pharmaceutical University
On January 2010, I took over the presidency of Prof. Yasushi Yamazoe. My greetings to all my fellow members.
Since its foundation in 1985, the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (JSSX) has steadily developed and broadened its activities as an academic society with over 2000 current members. In the past few years, with the strong leadership of the presidents and efforts of the directors, various future-focused reforms have been carried out, raising the society’s activities to a higher level in terms of both quantity and quality. This society’s scholarship has risen to an internationally established level. Along with the publication of the English academic journal “Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) ” and efforts to enrich and invigorate the annual meetings, we have reached a status with good prospects for further worldwide development. Namely, the DMPK received the impact factor 2.641 from Thomson Reuters on June last year. It is very gratifying to receive such a rating, which was even higher than our expectation. At the 24th annual meeting held in Kyoto last year, to make sure that the information dispatched from Japan is clearly understood and to further develop internationally, we set a general rule to carry out oral presentations in English. Although there are still challenges with regard to this rule, it led to the increase of paper submissions and participants from overseas, and the meeting ended successfully.
I believe that expanding and developing xenobiotics meets the needs for drug design and medical treatment, and that it supports academic systematization and social contribution. With regard to the effectiveness and safety of medication, which is one of the important questions in the field of medical science and medical treatment, the role of xenobiotics is significant. In accordance with such background and our basic principle, we have assigned personnel for this term and organized a strong new structure that includes colleges, universities, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies. I would like to conduct the business of the JSSX with an objective of making further development as a distinctive and attractive academic society in the field of medicine and pharmaceutics while accelerating its momentum, and developing human resources among the younger generation. Currently, although we face many challenges, such as the reform of the pharmacy curriculum at colleges and universities to six years, collapse of medical services, and fierce international competition between pharmaceutical companies, efforts are being made in all fields for improvement in the tough economic condition. In the JSSX, let’s shift our way of thinking and together strive to establish an ambitious and energizing society through our distinctive academic activities.
I would like to ask our members to provide us your candid opinions together with further support and cooperation.