The year 2022 is only the first half of the year, but unfortunately it will go down in history as the year the war in Ukraine began, in addition to the pandemic. Despite these challenging times, it is my great pleasure to invite you all to this scientific meeting.
The society is unique in that it includes not only physicians and researchers specializing in hematopoietic cell transplantation, but also nurses and other professionals involved in HSCT, and as such, we are able not only to exchange the latest information on basic and clinical research results, but also to discuss questions and problems in the clinical setting, seek answers and solutions, and share these with each other in order to improve our daily medical practice, which is one of the missions in our society. This year's meeting also took this characteristic into account, while aiming to deepen the meeting by adding new approaches that emphasize practical discussions that cannot be answered only by evidence-based medicine with 2 round table discussions, 3 Pros & Cons debate sessions, etc. In addition, support and education for young medical professionals and researchers interested in this field, and to further activate the international exchange of information with joint sessions of ISCT-JSTCT and KSBMT-JSTCT. At the same time, we tried to provide opportunities for networking that can be continued after the meeting. Furthermore, we actively incorporated discussions from new perspectives that integrate disciplines.
In particular, as this is the first year of the society's renaming, we have prepared a number of cell therapy sessions for a wide range of participants, from those new to cell therapy to experts.
Dr. Shigetaka Asano, who unfortunately passed away in the summer of 2020, has contributed to the development of this society, and JSTCT2022 is planning a memorial lecture series that will include future prospects while looking back on some of his insights and grand strategies, which were not limited to fields of transplantation, cell therapy, or medicine. Professor Asano envisioned a grand strategy that went beyond these areas. In this session, speakers who are closely related to Dr. Asano will talk about G-CSF, from its discovery to clinical application, gene therapy, and HSCT and cell therapy, which he was involved in throughout his life. The theme of JSTCT2022 is "Transplant, Cell Therapy, and Beyond" not only because this is the first year that "Immuno-Cell Therapy" has been added to the conference name. But also the other reason is that we are aware of the importance of looking to the future from the bird's-eye viewpoint that we have learned from Professor Asano. I hope that this meeting will be an opportunity for everyone to address current issues while looking to the future, based on the premise that the current form of transplantation medicine and cell therapy will continue to change and evolve in the future. The poster for the conference incorporates a picture drawn by Professor Asano. Although the true meaning of the picture is unclear at this time any more, the new cherry blossoms blooming directly from the trunk of an old cherry tree and the sun shining over there foreshadow the path we have taken, where we are now, and where we will be in the future.
Again, it was very difficult to decide on the format of the event in view of the spread of the COVID-19, but we decided to hold the event in a hybrid format, including on-site participation, while placing emphasis on safety. We made every effort to ensure that participants who could not come to the venue due to various restrictions could participate in the discussions as if they were there. We believe that webcasts of scientific meetings will become the mainstream in the future. We are still in the trial-and-error stage, and there may be some problems in the management of the meeting that do not fully meet everyone's needs. We hope that you will make the most of this experience and that it will evolve into an even better format next year and beyond.
I sincerely hope that you will deepen the discussion and create a wonderful meeting, and that you will use it as an opportunity to build a network after the conference. Thank you very much for your cooperation and we are welcome to you all from our hearts.