It was believed until recently that infectious diseases could be conquered through the development of chemotherapies and vaccines; however, the recent worldwide emergence of new infectious diseases and reemergence of infectious diseases that were once considered to be controlled has seriously challenged this notion. Under these circumstances, intensive research that closely monitors and rapidly analyzes emerging and re-emerging infections is urgently required. Since a variety of infectious diseases can spread rapidly across national borders, it is obvious that these diseases cannot be controlled by the independent efforts of individual nations.

Campus of Ministry of Public Health

To this end, Osaka University founded the Research Collaboration Center on Emerging and Re-emerging Infections (RCC-ERI) in the Thai National Institute of Health (NIH), Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand in 2005. The second phase of the program (2010-2014), which is now named the Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases ( J-GRID), is on-going.

The facility consists of P2 and P3 biohazard containment laboratories and various other equipment and facilities in 600 m2 floor space. Previously, most research projects conducted abroad were short-term, with the researchers only staying for at most a few months to complete their experiments. Due to the installation of the RCC-ERI, researchers are now able to stay for longer periods of time. The RCC-ERI aims to carry out research projects on both emerging and re-emerging infections in close collaboration with the researchers at the NIH, while at the same time developing the talents of young scientists from Japan and Southeast Asian countries in the field of infection.

To conduct basic and applied research and to develop human resources, the RCC-ERI consists of two sections that are devoted to bacterial and viral infection research. In addition, we aim to establish an effective system that would (i) provide information that would help to prevent the emergence of emerging and re-emerging infections, and (ii) promptly activate a variety of countermeasures should such a disease emerge, including developing therapeutics or vaccines. Finally, we wish to begin collaborations with laboratories from the nations that neighbor Thailand so that we can be at the frontline with the capacity to quickly respond to any globally spreading infectious disease.