2017 Volume 32 Issue 2 Pages 110-124
The Palade Prize is the most distinguished award of the IAP for achievement in pancreatic research. It is named after George E. Palade who, in 1974, was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on protein trafficking in the pancreatic acinar cell. It is a great honor to be awarded the Palade Prize 2016. While I was in graduate school, I was conducting research on hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid axis. After finishing graduate school, I began research on amylase isoenzymes. This was the first step of my pancreatic research. While I found that there are close relationships between blood glucose levels, amylase activity and exocrine pancreatic function, I went on to my next challenge. I performed research on the relationship among exocrine and endocrine pancreas, pancreatic exocrine functions in diabetes mellitus, role of CCK and its synthetic analogue on exocrine and endocrine pancreas, role of CCK on the pathogenesis of pancreatitis, cellular mechanism of reversible and irreversible pancreatitis, and pancreatic stellate cell activation. In addition, I established guidelines for the diagnosis and management of acute, chronic and autoimmune pancreatitis as the chief investigator of the Research Committee of Intractable Pancreatic Diseases supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan.
