OMU News

On November 8, 2025, Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) held a signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), marking a significant step toward strengthening international collaboration in advanced medical research.

This agreement is the result of close collaboration between UCSD’s leading experts in phage therapy—Prof. Robert T. Schooley and Prof. Steffanie Strathdee—and Prof. Satoshi Uematsu from OMU’s Graduate School of Medicine. Their joint efforts have paved the way for new opportunities in research and innovation.

^{From left to right: Prof. Constance A. Benson, Prof. Steffanie Strathdee, Prof. Robert T. Schooley (UC San Diego), Vice President Masahide Takahashi, Executive Director Fuminori Tokunaga, Prof. Satoshi Uematsu and Prof. Kosuke Fujimoto (OMU and the University of Osaka)}

Following the signing ceremony, OMU hosted an international symposium titled “Phage Therapy Against Superbugs: Towards Real World Implementation” to commemorate the opening of the Morinomiya Campus. The event featured keynote lectures by Prof. Strathdee and Prof. Uematsu, offering cutting-edge insights into the clinical application of phage therapy. Prof. Robert Schooley joined as a special guest and shared valuable comments during the discussion, while Prof. Yoshio Koyanagi, Program Director at the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), provided important perspectives on Japan’s support for phage therapy.

The symposium attracted more than 100 participants from across Japan, providing an invaluable opportunity for researchers and attendees to exchange knowledge and explore future directions in this critical field. OMU looks forward to expanding its collaboration with UCSD beyond phage research and fostering academic exchange across diverse disciplines.

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