U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel hosted Cleveland Clinic and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony in Naha, Japan, on October 30.
The MOU establishes a research fellowship for one of Cleveland Clinic’s 32 fourth-year medical students, while also serving as a framework for a potential long-term health and science collaboration.
At the ceremony, the Ambassador noted his commitment to expanding ties between the American and Japanese centers of excellence. He also highlighted how the partnership will promote Okinawa’s future growth as a hub of science, technology and innovation, and how that will in turn boost the prefecture’s human capital and economy.
“This is a significant step toward linking Okinawa’s universities with their U.S. counterparts across a variety of fields,” noted Ambassador Emanuel.
OIST is a world-class cross-disciplinary graduate school offering a five-year Ph.D. program in science. Funded by the Japanese government, OIST has 1,080 employees from 60 countries and territories, and 269 Ph.D. students from 53 different countries with 89 different research units.
“We are excited for this new collaboration with a renowned institution like OIST,” said James Stoller, M.D., M.S. Cleveland Clinic Chairman, Education Institute. “The relationship expands the scope of research opportunities for our talented medical students, builds capacity for generating new and important knowledge, and will both further enhance our pipeline of talented physician-investigators and create synergies upon which to build.”
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion, and innovation.
Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey.
Among Cleveland Clinic’s 72,500 employees worldwide are more than 5,050 salaried physicians and researchers, and 17,800 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,500-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 22 hospitals, more than 220 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio, southeast Florida, Las Vegas, Toronto, Abu Dhabi, and London. In 2021, there were 10.2 million total outpatient visits, 304,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 259,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 185 countries.