Report on the Japanese Workshop on Antarctic Medical Research and Medicine 2012:creating collaborations and extending the local Asian network in Antarctic medicine

Abstract

The "Workshop on Antarctic Medical Research and Medicine 2012" was held on 28 July 2012 at the National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan. This workshop has been held annually since 2004 to present results from medical research and operational medicine conducted by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) and to discuss medical research programs for the next expedition team. Thirty-seven participants from 30 institutes contributed to the workshop. There were 14 presentations concerning various aspects of Antarctic medical research and practical medicine. Antarctic medical doctors from China, India, and Korea have also participated in this workshop since 2006. Chinese and Korean medical doctors who will be members of the next wintering team reported on their countries' Antarctic medical activities of this year. This workshop plays an important role as a local Asian network for Antarctic medical research and medicine. It is expected that the workshop will stimulate and encourage participating researchers to develop Antarctic medical research projects and medicine through the exchange of information and discussion. This article summarizes the collected abstracts from the workshop.