Message from the Chair of the Faculty of Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical sciences, which encompass the study of the development and use of medicines, are currently at a crossroads. As was starkly highlighted during the coronavirus pandemic, rapid drug development is necessary to ensure the timely delivery of safe and effective drugs to patients, and enhancing research capacities has become an urgent priority. The forms of drugs available today have expanded from the conventional small molecules to medium and large molecules, a transition that has also been accompanied by the development of cells for therapeutic purposes (new drug modalities). It is imperative that universities play a role in providing academic support for these developments. Furthermore, in the current aging society, the financial resources available for medical care are reaching their limits, and, consequently, to sustain a healthy aging population, we not only need conventional drugs, which are mostly covered by tax in Japan, but also new types of medicines that are sustainable and targeted.

Given these circumstances, we recently undertook a renewal of our School of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences at Kanazawa University with a particular focus on the development of human resources with advanced expertise in the field of pharmaceutics. This included both pharmaceutical researchers and university professors involved in drug development, and pharmaceutical professionals who will succeed in diverse fields. In conjunction with teaching in the graduate school, our goal in School of Pharmacy is to train pharmaceutical specialists who have both pharmacist qualifications and a PhD in pharmacy. Based on our collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine, we have also established a drug development science course in the School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, in which we will train world-renowned researchers in the field of pharmaceutical science. The graduate school currently offers two courses, the division of pharmacy and the division of pharmaceutical sciences.

What singles out the School of Pharmacy at Kanazawa University as being unique is the fact that our laboratories and research groups cover a wide range of fields and establish proactive collaborations both within the university and with other institutes. The development of medicines is dependent on inputs from multiple academic subjects. By joining our university, you will have the opportunity to acquire research abilities in your field of choice. Together with the School of Medicine and School of Health Sciences, we cover the fields of medical, pharmaceutical, and health sciences, which are closely interconnected. Furthermore, we have also entered into collaborations with the Cancer Research Institute, World Premier International Nano Life Science Institute, Institute for Frontier Science Initiative, Advanced Preventive Medical Sciences Research Center, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, and the AI Hospital/Macro Signal Dynamics Research and Development Center. A further advantage of joining our institute is that you will have access to the shared research facilities of our campus, including the Research Center for Experimental Modeling of Human Disease, that offer an excellent range of such facilities.

Within the School of Pharmacy, we have established a system that enables students to determine their desired career paths, with the aim of enabling them to realize their future goals, and that also fosters their research skills and global mindset from an early stage. We offer pharmaceutical-oriented English classes taught by native speakers and a short-term foreign study program hosted by the faculty, in which students will be able to gain an international perspective. In addition, from the first semester of the third year, you will be assigned to laboratories to enhance your expertise as a researcher, and during the fourth and fifth years, we also offer a unique and extensive program that provides experience in advanced pharmacy practice. Throughout these programs, you will gain hands-on experience in clinical practices and develop the ability to independently identify and address problems. We also encourage students to attend graduate school, for which support is provided.

To qualify for entry to the School of Pharmacy at Kanazawa University, the following options exist: general admission (first schedule), special admission to the School of Pharmacy for undergraduate-to-postgraduate program, or general admission to the Science Education Division. Among these, the special admission to the School of Pharmacy for undergraduate-to-postgraduate program is designed for the integrated course up to the PhD course, and we offer a comprehensive curriculum and diverse forms of support to those who pass this examination as a hub of pharmaceutical researchers and university professors, which are our university’s most important source for human resource development. For those who have already completed a bachelor's degree and wish to enter our graduate school, please contact the professor who is responsible for the laboratory/research group that most interests you.

The School of Pharmacy at Kanazawa University has a long history and tradition going back 150-odd years. Our current campus is located within a congenial environment, wherein students can focus on their studies and research. By nurturing the next generation of leaders with research skills that will contribute to solving the problems alluded to in my opening sentence, we will continue to develop and evolve in line with our projected path of growth, based on a philosophy that seeks to contribute to the realization of a healthy long-lived society.