2018 Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 115-128
The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development（AMED）was established in 2015 for the advancement of medical discoveries that make life better for everyone.
Based on effective partnerships and innovative collaboration, we pursue medical breakthroughs through an approach consisting of three vital components
: 1）SUPPORT（Funding medical studies and research facilities）
2）CONNECT（Linking organizations, institutions and researchers）
3）PROMOTE（Promoting the practical application of beneficial research outcomes）
We support, connect and promote, helping researchers to make incredible discoveries and change the lives of patients around the globe.
We promote leading-edge medical innovation from discovery and development to clinical application. Focused on nine key fields*, everything we do is guided by the Japanese government’s Plan for Promotion of Medical Research and Development.
（*） Drug discovery and development, Medical device development, Translational and clinical research core centers, Japan regenerative medicine project, Japan genomic medicine program, Japan cancer research project, Psychiatric and neurological disorders, Emerging/re-emerging infectious disease project of Japan, Rare/intractable disease project of Japan, and other programs.
Our mission is to fast-track medical research and development. Our projects are solicited through wide-ranging calls for proposals, which are aimed at outstanding individuals working in world-class institutions. Our role as custodians of public money means we consider each proposal thoroughly in order to maximize the potential for beneficial outcomes. （in 2017, we are responsible for a budget of approximately ¥126 billion）
To ensure the best chance of beneficial research outcomes, we assign program directors（PD）to each of our nine key fields, and program supervisors（PS）and program officers（PO） to each program within the field. These individuals have distinguished academic backgrounds and are handpicked for their expertise in a specific area of research.
