URICAS Impact Report

The USM-RIKEN International Center for Aging Science (URICAS) was conceptualised in January 2014 with the intention to firstly, bring together the many USM researchers who had worked together with RIKEN in their one-to-one research collaborations, and to secondly, reciprocate the generous support RIKEN has provided in training many of our USM students since the acceptance of the first USM student as an Asia Program Associate in 2001.

The URICAS program aimed to formalise the various USM-RIKEN research groups under a single focus of ageing, to work together as a cluster to tackle ageing topics at the fundamental level. While it had initially focused on fundamental life sciences to study the ageing problem from the cellular and organismal perspective, it had also expanded in USM to include the social sciences with a focus on the elderly’s health promotion behaviors.

USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Omar Osman (right) and RIKEN president Prof Dr Ryoji Noyori exchange documents on establishing the first international research centre in the field of Ageing Science.

“Curiosity, passion and connections are crucial. To make a breakthrough in science, you need serendipity. Friends are important; an important field cannot be explored by one person alone.”

Noyori Ryoji

As with prior USM-RIKEN collaborations, the URICAS program was made possible by the full support from both USM and RIKEN from the top managements to the researchers and students, culminating in research outputs (publications, patents, awards), mentoring and training of the next generation researchers (URICAS Youngsters), and a foothold in the community through various initiatives including the Penang state-supported International Conference on Ageing 2019. This report serves as record of our impact and activities from 2015 until 2021.