Naoaki Watanabe

I was delighted to be chosen for the APSR / JRS Young Investigator Award at the APSR 2021 Congress in Kyoto, Japan. It was my first time to participate in an APSR Congress.

I learned a lot from the many educational and interesting talks at this Congress. In addition to improving my knowledge, the enthusiasm of many researchers for their own research was a great motivation for me.

I'm a pulmonologist in the Division of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine (Tokyo, Japan). Now I pursue basic research in the Laboratory of Integrative Oncology, National Cancer Center Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan), where I focus on transcriptome analysis.

I've always been fascinated with how transcriptome analysis can be used to explain the complexity of lung parenchymal and mesenchymal architecture. Recent advances in single-cell analysis and spatial transcriptome technologies have provided us with the possibility to understand them more deeply. I was able to present some of our most recent work in the field of single-cell RNA-seq analysis in COPD. I believe that our understanding of the complexities of the lungs will lead us to the elucidation of various respiratory diseases such as IPF, COPD, and lung cancer in the future.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting was mainly a virtual presentation. I would like to express my gratitude to the APSR staff who prepared the meeting under such circumstances. I look forward to the day when I have direct discussions with researchers from all over the world and visit the host city.

I am most grateful to the APSR and the JRS for giving me the opportunity to participate in this Congress. I would love to participate again!

Naoaki Watanabe