2023 International Joint Meeting of the 23rd International Conference on Cytochrome P450 and the 38th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics [2023 ICCP450/JSSX]

Message from the Chair

Dear Sir/Madam,

The international joint meeting of the 23rd International Conference on Cytochrome P450 (ICCP450) and the 38th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (JSSX) (2023 ICCP450/JSSX International Joint meeting) will be held at the Shizuoka Convention Arts Center (Granship) in Shizuoka city, Japan, from September 25th (Monday) to 29th (Friday) in 2023.

As a JSSX annual meeting, this is the first meeting in Shizuoka Prefecture since the Hamamatsu meeting in 1999. It is also the first joint meeting with an international conference since the Kanazawa meeting in 2018. The first ICCP450 meeting was held in 1976, and since then it has been held once every two to three years around the world. The 2023 joint meeting will be the 4th meeting to be held in Japan.

Due to the spread of COVID-19 from the spring of 2020, many academic conferences have changed from face-to-face to online meetings. It is true that online meetings have great merit because we can participate in conferences, including overseas, without traveling. From the autumn of 2022, on the other hand, face-to-face conferences have been resuming at many academic societies, and in fact, the 37th JSSX annual meeting was held in Yokohama as an onsite conference. I think that many people have rediscovered the benefits of face-to-face conferences, but the current situation may prevent researchers from participating in overseas international conferences. Under such circumstances, we will host the ICCP450/JSSX International Joint meeting this year in Japan and we believe that this meeting will be a great opportunity to interact with researchers from over the world.

The theme of this International Joint meeting is "Discovery of new knowledge and technology in life sciences and drug discovery - Learning from the past, knowing the future -". Starting with basic research on cytochrome P450, which is the center of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics (DMPK), DMPK research has developed by incorporating various new knowledge and technologies in related fields and has greatly contributed to drug discovery research and other life sciences. In addition, cytochrome P450 is an enzyme that plays a vital role in biological phenomena in various animal species and is an enzyme that is also attracting attention from a biotechnological point of view. A great deal of basic and applied research is thus being conducted on cytochrome P450. At this joint meeting, where researchers on basic and applied sciences get together, we would like you to enjoy research presentations in areas slightly different from your own research field and feel the importance of both basic and applied research. We hope that you will find hints for your future research.

The year 2022 will be a milestone year for cytochrome P450 research. This is because Dr. Tsuneo Ohmura, one of the discoverers of cytochrome P450, passed away in January of the same year. Dr. Omura was born in Shizuoka and started his career as a researcher at the Faculty of Sciences, Shizuoka University in Shizuoka city. Therefore, we are planning a session named after Dr. Omura at this joint meeting. We hope that all participants will be able to learn about the past, present, and future of cytochrome P450 research.

Shizuoka city is located in the central part of Japan at the foot of Mt. Fuji and 1-hour away from Tokyo to the west by bullet train (Shinkansen). The city is a treasure trove of agricultural and marine products. We hope that you will enjoy food and sightseeing in and around Shizuoka as well as sciences at the meeting. We are looking forward to seeing you in Shizuoka.