I dream of a world that every person with disease can live as they like. As a physiotherapist and as a researcher, I will lead everyone to the world.
When I was a high school student, there was one classmate who had just come back from the treatment in the hospital for one year and had a physical handicap. At first, she didn’t have confidence for many things. Since we were good friends, I tried to give her emotional support. I always considered how she felt when she faced difficulties and tried to make her happy. When I found that her smile gradually increased and took her back to who she really was, I felt so satisfied and realized that I like to support someone who is unhappy or depressed because of diseases. This experience is one of the reasons of my dream and this led me to go toward the field of physiotherapy.
While I was studying physiotherapy in the University, I had chances to interact with many patients who were suffering from their diseases in hospitals. One patient with the incurable neurological disease (called myasthenia gravis) who was almost same age as my mother, was memorable. I talked with her every weekday in her rehabilitation time. She tried her best to get better though she knew that there is less evidence about the effect of rehabilitation for the disease. One day, she told me, “Could you do the research about the treatment of my disease for future patients? I do hope that you will help them in the future.” This message from her is my big motivation for my current research. I decided to do my best for patients to live in their own ways, like before their diseases. This is main part of the reasons of my dream.
Currently, my research about drugs that act on neural circuits is progressing well, but there are still unknown problems that I need to figure out. In 2024, I will develop my research in Switzerland by digging deeper about genes related to incurable diseases. I strongly believe that I will be able to figure out something new that will help many patients in the world. In other words, new findings will contribute to everyone’s good health and well-being. And it will connect to sustainable cities and communities where everyone including people with disabilities, can live comfortably as they like.