Kagayaki Nogami

Bachelor’s Degree Holder for 2014 and Ph.D. Holder for 2018

I graduated from the University of Toyama, Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (six-year program) to complete a Ph.D. Program (four-year course), before joining a pharmaceutical company as a researcher. The department offers courses through which students can become eligible to take the Japanese National License Examination for Pharmacists, and many graduates from the department find work that utilizes this license, rather than continuing on to graduate school. I also planned to work as a pharmacist in the future, without considering a research career path, in my early days at the university. However, after being assigned to a laboratory in my third year, I became enthusiastic about research due to its intellectual appeal, and found myself eager to pursue a research career. In my fifth undergraduate year, I visited medical service sites as part of my pharmacist practical training. I had an opportunity to talk with pharmacists, doctors, and nurses on the job, as well as terminal cancer patients. This made me acutely aware that existing drugs fell far short of meeting certain needs, so I became eager to contribute to society as a drug development professional.
My current responsibility is to synthesize various compounds in an effort to discover candidates for drugs. Drug development is said to have only a one-in-30,000 chance of success — out of 30,000 candidate compounds, only one ends up becoming a drug. Despite these difficult odds, we continue to work on research, day after day, with the resolve to deliver new drugs for patients without fail.