WASHINGTON—Since 1950, more than 2,000 Japanese researchers have passed through the National Institutes of Health—more than from any other foreign country. Now, in NIH’s centennial year, members of that group have formed the first NIH alumni association chapter overseas.
Osamu Hayaishi, who in 195 1-52 was among the first Japanese scientists to visit NIH, said the NIH Alumni Association in Japan has been established “to express our gratitude to NIH and also to cultivate our friendship.” Hayaishi, president of Osaka Medical College, is the new association’s first president.
The group’s secretary, Shiro Senoh, was one of 10 Japanese scientists working at NIH in 1956, he recalls. That number has since grown to 325, the largest foreign contingent. More than 800 alumni have joined the association in Japan, said Senoh, vice chairman of the Suntory Institute for Bio-Organic Research in Osaka.
Among other activities, the group may establish a fund to ...
