Stream Outline
Healthy Individual directly advances Target 1: Healthy Mind and Target 2: Healthy Body by treating mental and physical health as an inseparable system. The need for this proposal arises from the recognition that rising rates of age-related disease, cognitive decline, stress disorders, and lifestyle-driven conditions are becoming increasingly significant in the overall health landscape. These challenges are compounded by growing societal demand for preventive and personalized health solutions. Addressing them requires an integrated approach that can generate knowledge and tools relevant both to clinical medicine and to everyday life.
At the time of the original application, these challenges were addressed through two separate streams—Healthy Mind and Healthy Body. However, as projects progressed, it became clear that this artificial separation limited both scientific insight and translational potential. Following careful review, the decision was therefore made to merge the two streams into Healthy Individual. This refinement ensures that implementation reflects the inseparability of mental and physical health while still honoring the original intent to give mental health equal emphasis. In doing so, the Healthy Individual Stream provides a holistic framework for advancing human well-being, spanning molecular mechanisms, cellular dynamics, systemic interactions, and behavioral outcomes. Its goal is to create scalable solutions—from affordable health monitoring and rapid diagnostics to personalized feedback systems and ultimately personalized medicine.
R&D Leader
Keiko Kono (OIST, Associate Professor）
Projects
Overcoming Aging and Dementia by Focusing on Glial Cells
Identifies astrocyte-derived rejuvenation factors and accelerates iPSC-to-astrocyte differentiation to support drug discovery and therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s and age-related decline.
PI: Yukiko Goda
Healthy Aging by Ameliorating Plasma Membrane Damage
Investigates membrane-damage–driven cellular senescence, developing markers and small-molecule inhibitors, and advancing food-derived supplements to address sarcopenia, joint pain, and dementia.
PI: Keiko Kono
Miniaturized Lab-on-a-Chip Devices for Precision Diagnosis
Develops portable cortisol biosensors for real-time stress monitoring, aiming for sub-nM sensitivity, <$1 unit cost, and scalable production.
PI: Amy Shen
Laboratory Automation System Development using AI and Robot Technology
Builds an AI- and robotics-driven lab for automated multi-omics; conducts large-scale, cross-country phenotyping to uncover universal and population-specific health determinants.
PI: Hiroaki Kitano
Development of Biomarker-based Diagnostic Tools for ALS
Uses hiPSC-derived motor neurons and patient CSF to identify and validate biomarkers, with the goal of enabling earlier ALS diagnosis and therapeutic targeting.
PI: Marco Terenzio
