Keio University Hiyoshi Campus – Graduate School of Health Management Blog

On June 3rd, our UMBC “Global Health and Aging in Japan” cohort was scheduled for a site visit to Keio University’s Hiyoshi campus. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. Due to an approaching typhoon, we quickly pivoted to an online format. Yet, what could have been a setback transformed into a vibrant, tri-national exchange of ideas that transcended physical distance.

Despite the virtual setting, the forum provided an incredible opportunity to share our research and learn from one another. The breadth of topics was remarkable:

• Keio University’s Graduate School of Health Management faculty and students presented critical work on age-related muscle decline, organ aging, and community-based physical activity promotion for older adults.
• UMBC graduate students shared their efforts to improve the quality of care in resource-constrained environments, as well as fascinating associations between linguistic and cultural competencies and digital problem-solving skills.
• Chung Ang University (South Korea) was represented by Dr. Kim and her GRACE lab members, who shared recent primary data collection and exciting preliminary findings from their initiatives.

We had excellent discussions, but what impressed me most was the unifying thread through these incredibly diverse substantive areas and methodological approaches. Every single study presented was ultimately designed with the same goal in mind: achieving healthy aging and a meaningful later life.

Aging is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, and each researcher is tackling one crucial piece of the puzzle. Gathering scholars and students from three countries—the US, Japan, and South Korea—allowed us to pull these individual studies together and see the bigger picture for our global community. This forum successfully broke down traditional academic silos, removing national and cultural boundaries, and uniting us under a shared mission. It pushed us to reimagine what cross-cultural, interdisciplinary research can achieve in helping us better understand the aging process and enhance the quality of life across the entire life course.