On 2nd July, we held the 54th Find-Your-Role-Model Session. We invited Dr Yusuke Shimakawa, a permanent researcher in the Emerging Disease Epidemiology Unit at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France. This was our first online FYRM session, and almost 100 participants joined together and enjoyed a lively discussion.

After graduating from Tokyo Jikei Medical University, Dr. Shimakawa worked as a clinician at Teine-Keijinkai Hospital and with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from Nagasaki University. Dr. Shimakawa also received an MSc and a PhD in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), conducting research projects at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit in The Gambia, West Africa. Since 2014, Dr. Shimakawa has been with the Emerging Disease Epidemiology Unit at the Pasteur Institute and is actively involved in viral hepatitis control in Africa.

In this session, in addition to his career and turning points, Dr. Shimakawa shared with us his current work, the control of hepatitis B viral infection in sub-Saharan African nations. He noted the importance of understanding and flexibly reacting to cultural and political issues in each area, and also mentioned the difficulty in responding to “true” local needs. It was the great opportunity for us to think clearly about medical problems in low- and middle-income nations, and participants actively joined in by asking lots of questions.

At the end of the session, Dr Shimakawa encouraged students by noting, “there’re lots of tools to reach your goal, but don’t confuse your goal with those tools.” Participants were really impressed by this idea which is important not only in epidemiological research but also in establishing our future careers.