As you know, TMDU was one of the fi rst universities to take up the challenge of combating the COVID-19 pandemic. We take pride in our contribution to the safety and security of people in Japan, and these endeavors have been recognized by society at large. Thus, we have been contributing to “today’s medicine.” On the other hand, the fruits of our research based on the experience of dealing with COVID-19 have been sparse, and thus our contribution to “tomorrow’s medicine” is not yet commensurate with our ambitions. One of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that the domain of the medical and dental sciences has inherent limitations and it is necessary to cast our net wider to include such academic disciplines as informatics, engineering, and sociology. Mindful of this, we began discussions with Tokyo Institute of Technology, which is conducting cutting-edge research in science and engineering, and on October 14, 2022, it was announced that an agreement had been reached to integrate the two universities.

As mentioned in TMDU President Tanaka’s message on April 3, 2023 (https://www.tmd.ac.jp/English/outline/office_of_the_president/20230403_1/), fiscal 2023 is a period for preparing for the integration with Tokyo Tech in 2024. Japanese universities tend to be more insular and hierarchical than their Western counterparts, which hinders their ability to invent and innovate by bringing people’s capabilities into full play. The integration of TMDU and Tokyo Tech is an excellent opportunity to break free from this impasse affecting Japanese universities and to create a new university conducive to the passionate pursuit of ambitious goals. Therefore, we have set three core values for the new university:

・ Convergence science;
・ Ever-evolving university;
・ Free and fl at culture.

To facilitate invention and innovation, a commitment to convergence science is essential, involving the deep integration of knowledge, techniques and expertise from multiple fields. For this end, the research portfolio should be continuously updated with an eye to future issues. In other words, the university must embrace continual change as an essential ingredient of success. As a foundation for the pursuit of convergence science in an ever-evolving university, a free and fl at culture is indispensable where everyone can discuss issues on an equal footing and the best ideas are adopted regardless of who proposes them.

In accordance with these three core values, we will continue contributing to “today’s medicine” while, at the same time, aiming to be a university that contributes to society by addressing “tomorrow’s medicine” by resolving issues.