FJC History

It all started 25 years ago, when Professor François Gros (Institut Pasteur) was contacted at Matignon by the Japanese Minister of Health to create an exchange program on cancer research. This program was then launched and coordinated by Dominique Stéhelin. 

They did not know it but they settled the basis for a brand new collaboration, stronger and more concrete.

This program has now ended but, in 2009, a new form of it was created by Marcel Méchali (CNRS) and Professor Fuyuki Ishikawa (Kyoto University): the Groupement de Recherche International (GDRI) France-Japan (International Scientific Coordination Network: ISCN), created by the CNRS.

This network is now co-financed by both CNRS and INSERM, which have shown their strong will to work with Japan, which is the second country in the world as regards to investment in research and development. The promotion of Science and Technology is indeed a major component of the national policy of Japan, especially since the mid 90's, and then in 2008, when it was decided to reinforce the Sciences and Technologies diplomacy. And it is paying off, for Japanese research is now one of the most innovative in the world.

The France-Japan Cancer network, which now gathers 22 French laboratories and 20 Japanese’s, focuses on two main topics of cancer research:

1-      Genome, epigenome, and nuclear dynamics (fundamental research)

2-      Cell growth, signaling and infection (clinical research)

The focus on these two research themes was made in order to allow the program to be more productive, because, over the past 25 years, the biology of cancer has made a step forward and the research network had to adapt this new environment.

According to the new rules of the network, these two themes have to be promoted on one annual conference bringing together all the research teams. The conference is organized once a year alternatively in France and in Japan. This operation mode permits to have regular meetings and multidisciplinary exchanges among the two groups. In addition to this, an effort is made to stimulate exchanges with young researchers, through short or long stays in the corresponding laboratories. Post-doctoral stays are encouraged even more. Also, each laboratory has to be represented by a PI and a phD or young post-docs.

For now, we can say that “France-Japan Cancer” has succeeded in increasing scientific exchanges and favoring translational research in cancer, for the first two editions of the Congress were a hit.

Welcome to the third edition.