To answer the question of “What makes us human?”, mice and other animals have long been used, leading to various research findings. However, it is becoming clear that the knowledge obtained from these animals can not necessarily be applied to humans. Therefore, to solve this problem, the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi) was established in 2018 as a center for the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) Program of the Japanese government. ASHBi aims to answer the fundamental question of “What key biological traits make us ‘human’, and how can knowing these lead us to better cures for disease?” through systematic research using humans and primates and utilize the findings for future treatments and for our understanding of life.

Through the ASHBi fund, we aim to improve our research environment for advancing human biology research and to foster excellent young researchers to lead the research of next generation. We will develop seminars and programs for young researchers nationwide to improve their research skills. In addition, we will promote outreach activities targeting young students who are our future.

Your kind and generous support to the ASHBi Fund will help us promote research and to foster the next generation of researchers in our journey to answer the fundamental question “What makes us human?”.