We have been holding a series of events called “Find-Your-Role-Model” Session to provide students with opportunities to interact with TMDU alumni and worldwide leaders in health sciences. Through this roundtable-type, relaxed atmosphere event, we hope students will be able to find their role models in order to facilitate their career development in becoming future global leaders.

We will host Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa, a senior epidemiologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. After graduating from Tokyo Jikei Medical University, Dr. Shimakawa worked as a clinician in Teine-Keijinkai Hospital and with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from Nagasaki University. Dr. Shimakawa also received an MSc and a PhD in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), conducting research projects at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit in The Gambia, West Africa. Since 2014, Dr. Shimakawa has been with the Emerging Disease Epidemiology Unit at the Pasteur Institute and is actively involved in viral hepatitis control in Africa.

This session will be carried out in a round-table discussion format, and will cover the following points. Everyone is welcome to join us in a hearty discussion.

Topics

• Career and personal background: Career history, previous failures and successes
• Designing public health research responding to local needs : Example: viral hepatitis control in sub-Saharan Africa
• Mission, vision, outlook; Personal mission, future vision, role-models, and career path
• Advice for students; What TMDU students should do to prepare for working globally