On November 25, 2016, Gifu University held the commemorative events to mark the 10^th Anniversary of the United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Sciences at the university Satellite Campus (near JR Gifu Station).

The United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Sciences was established on April 1, 2007 by integrating and merging parts of the School of Medicine, the Faculty of Engineering of Gifu University, and parts of Gifu Pharmaceutical University (public university run by Gifu City). It became the first united graduate school between national university and public university in Japan. Since its establishment, the school has been implementing a number of unique educational and research programs/projects centering around drug discovery and medical information sciences. Among others, for the past 10 years, it has been endeavoring to cultivate highly-professional personnel endowed with foresight and flexible frame of mind, capable of playing a leading role in pharmaceutical and medical fields in the future.

At a commemorative ceremony, President Hisataka Moriwaki of Gifu University made the following comment: "The mission of the School is being fulfilled thanks to warm advice and guidance from not only the university staff but also everyone concerned. We will continue to strive for carrying out the mission of a graduate school." Then, Mr. Takashi Inagaki, President of Gifu Pharmaceutical University said, "We remain committed to conducting many unique educational/research activities in order to raise our profile in the world."

Next, Professor Masayuki Niwa, Dean of the School presented a school summary and expressed his strong intention as follows: "The biggest advantage of the School is formation of a cross-sectional, diverse partnership for "drug discovery" within the same university premises. We hope that the School will play a much bigger role in the fields of pharmaceutical and medical information sciences by seizing on this milestone 10th anniversary."

As a commemorative lecture, Mr. Toshio Kuroki, former president of Gifu University and professor emeritus, gave a speech under the title, "The gaps among universities are subject of a power law."

At the end of the anniversary events, a celebration gathering was held and the following guests of honor delivered congratulatory speeches:

Mr. Hideki Mori, former president of Gifu University and professor emeritus
Mr. Hiroichi Nagai, former president of Gifu Pharmaceutical University, and
Mr. Toichi Takenaka, former president and CEO of Astellas Pharma Inc.

With drug discovery, medical information sciences and translational research as keywords, the United Graduate School of Drug Discovery and Medical Information Sciences will further pursue the university's globalization as a place for education, research and human resource development, and serve as the university hub in the years to come.