CCI’s approach is designed to support rapid advancement of ambitious research in complex scientific and medical fields. Focusing initially on neuroscience and systems biology, and the convergence of these multidisciplinary areas facilitated through innovative technologies, CCI will help further ambitious projects that improve health and well-being for all. Examples include the development of a novel therapeutic approach leveraging neuro-inspired AI systems, and CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) to engineer entire ecosystems. 

“Despite major advances in recent decades, global health and access to quality care has not sufficiently improved and in some cases is actually declining. Solving these challenges requires scientific rigor and exploration of complex, interconnected systems that underpin human health. The classic reductionist approach to R&D viewed these as distinct scientific disciplines to be studied in isolation,” said Caleb B. Bell III, PhD, President and Executive Director of CCI. “We are empowering scientists and innovators to take a new approach to today’s biggest challenges, supported by a global ecosystem of like-minded individuals. With a systems biology, non-reductionist mindset, groundbreaking insights can rapidly translate into viable solutions that improve global health and well-being.”

The CCI model represents a fundamental shift in how scientific research is funded, developed and translated globally. By identifying high-potential researchers early in their careers and providing them with dedicated, long-term resources, CCI enables scientists and innovators to explore ambitious projects without the constraints of short-term thinking. The CCI team has cultivated a collaborative, global network of thought leaders in science, business, and finance to help innovators overcome obstacles and accelerate progress.

“Corundum Convergence Institute is building a platform where groundbreaking science is not only supported but also stewarded with a clear pathway to societal benefit,” said Yasushi Yamamoto, CEO of Corundum Corp. “By integrating resources and leveraging expertise from across the Corundum network, we are positioning CCI to be a critical force in bridging cutting-edge research with real-world impact, laying the foundation for a new era in health innovation.”

Corundum Convergence Institute is an independently governed entity, created by fellow Corundum Corp venture builders and funds Corundum Neuroscience and Corundum Systems Biology, with the specific mission of funding early-stage scientific research in the fields of neuroscience, systems biology and artificial intelligence.

About Corundum Convergence Institute (CCI)

Corundum Convergence Institute (CCI) is a non-profit organization committed to advancing transformative research at the frontiers of neuroscience, systems biology, and artificial intelligence. By focusing on early-stage innovation in complex, high-impact fields, CCI supports the development of products and technologies leading to paradigm shifts in healthcare, including novel therapeutic approaches to neuro-inspired AI and improved diagnostics for neurodegenerative and metabolic conditions. CCI’s multidisciplinary approach fosters convergence across fields, enabling scientists and entrepreneurs to explore the intersections of science, human biology and advanced technology in ways that will fundamentally reshape health and wellbeing. As part of the greater Corundum network, CCI offers a creative path to translate bold scientific ideas to real-world impact.

For company updates and information, follow Corundum Convergence Institute on LinkedIn or visit https://cci-fund.org.

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Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. George Bernard Shaw.

I first learned about kaizen as a young doctor at a pioneering Seattle hospital. Virginia Mason Medical Center introduced the Toyota Production System to health care.

More recently, I have tried to apply kaizen to my life. Here’s my bottom line: I try to get one percent better daily. Yes, I know I will not achieve that amount most days.

I can be a better me by making small, incremental improvements over months, years, and decades.

What is Kaizen?

Kaizen is a business philosophy focusing on continuous improvement across an organization.

This approach helps companies focus on consistently increasing efficiency. The process helps to eliminate waste.

Kaizen encourages input from any employee. One can be a factory worker or a C-suite member and contribute.

Americans Created Kaizen

Did you know that the kaizen system was developed in the United States? Americans developed this small-step work improvement approach under the Training Within Industry program (TWI Job Methods).

As part of the Marshall Plan after World War II, American occupation forces brought experts to help rebuild Japanese industry.

At the same time, the Civil Communications Section (CCS) developed a management training program that taught statistical control methods as part of the overall material.

Kaizen in Japan

The kaizen method became popular in post-war Japan with manufacturers like Toyota.

In the Toyota Production System, for instance, if a line worker sees an issue, they stop production and create a solution with their supervisor.

Did you notice that those involved in the daily work have the authority to make changes without formal approval from upper management?

There is no long and drawn-out process to create change. The process facilitates continuous improvement.

Deconstructing Kaizen

改 + 善

You know that kaizen means continuous improvement in Japanese. Unfortunately, the word’s meaning is frequently lost when translated into English.

Let‘s deconstruct kaizen. The first kanji 改 (Kai) refers to change. The second one, 善 (Zen), means good or change for the better.

We can further deconstruct the first character, Kai, into two parts. The left portion refers to the self. The right part is a picture of a person’s back after being whipped.

Putting it all together, we see 改 can be reduced to “self” and “whip.” Put them together, and my mind goes to “whip oneself into shape.” Moreover, the character is used for the word revolution, suggesting big change.

Let’s move to the second kanji, “Zen.” Reading from top to bottom, we see 羊 (“hitsuji” or sheep). The bottom portion refers to an altar, translating to sacrificing a lamb on an altar.

Combining “Kai” and “Zen” thus leads to this: Each individual makes sacrifices for the entire group’s improvement.

Kaizen As A Mindset

Physicians and other staff members from my former hospital regularly visited the Toyota plant outside Nagoya (Japan) to study the Toyota Production System (TPS).

Even if you have yet to participate in lean project management in manufacturing (or other industries), you may be catching on to the approach’s effectiveness.

The message of the Kaizen strategy is that not a day should go by without some improvement being made somewhere in the company. — Masaaki Imai.

Kaizen Craftsmanship: Sculpting Your Success One Step at a Time

I love making small, incremental changes to improve my life and achieve my goals.

When I travel to Japan, I see elements of kaizen everywhere. The Japanese believe that even tiny changes, when applied consistently, can compound to create excellence.

I certainly have grand goals — I want to compete in a Master’s bodybuilding competition in 2024 — but sometimes it is less stressful to take the kaizen approach.

Self-Improvement As A Process (not a Goal)

So many view self-improvement as a destination. Reach your goal, and voila! You are done.

But what if you could aim to get one percent better daily? Small, incremental improvements — kaizen — over months, years, and decades can lead to extraordinary outcomes.

You know what to do; now, make small, continuous improvements in your process.

Here are some of the ways I use kaizen in my daily life:

• Exercise. While I exercise a lot now, I started doing two sets of ten push-ups. In three months, I did 100 (ten sets of ten) push-ups in the morning.
• Morning and evening routines. I started with the evening, focusing on the ten minutes before bed. I created habits, including brushing my teeth for ten minutes, flossing, and using a non-alcoholic rinse. I also aimed to read for 30 minutes, dodging blue light-emitting electronics. Then I turned to the morning.
• Mindfulness. I struggle with this one. Vinyasa flow yoga was not a fit for me. So what did I do? I began with one minute of breathing exercises. I increased over time and now do ten to 15 minutes of mindfulness meditation.
• Diet. This one is a work in progress. I began by cutting out one sugary drink daily, putting aside my morning ritual of a glass of orange juice.

Final Thoughts

I begin each journey with one small goal, incrementally and slowly improving over time. As is the case with effective investment, time is my ally.

Self-improvement as a process rather than a destination.

“The Kaizen Philosophy assumes that our way of life — be it our working life, our social life, or our home life — deserves to be constantly improved.” — Masaaki Imai.

Do you use kaizen in your daily life? If so, please share so that we may learn from you.

The post Kaizen Craftsmanship: Sculpting Your Success One Step at a Time appeared first on Medika Life.

Our global leaders may regret not paying more attention to what is happening in health: in the geeky panels where I lurked, there was a conviction that health technology and artificial intelligence may help middle income countries to leap past their more fossilised advanced counterparts within a decade.

The oppressive silence

President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission set the tone in her opening remarks: democracy versus autocracy; the climate emergency and; helping global trade to recover and reorganise. She did mention health once, but only in the context of a pandemic that was now waning. And, President von der Leyen is a doctor by training, with a master’s degree in public health! The assorted foreign ministers and heads of development finance institutions did not, as far as I could tell, have a medical degree between them, so it’s maybe unsurprising that they glossed over the topic too. 

In fairness, Tadashi Maeda, the Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation did talk about investment in Indian vaccine and small molecule production. I may have missed other contributions: each day began at 9am and ended 10.30pm; there were multiple breakout sessions twice a day and; all of the lunches and dinners were by invitation only. To no-one’s surprise, I was invited to the mealtime discussion on health issues around cooking oil rather than the exclusive meal hosted by the Indian foreign minister. 

Overall, though, I’m fairly sure that economy and finance leaders from across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America skipped any mention of the transformative approach to health that was the subject of so many promises from so many leaders throughout the pandemic. Geoffrey Onyeama the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria even managed about fifteen very eloquent minutes on the post-pandemic economic architecture without once touching on prevention, diagnosis or treatment of anything. 

Silence is sometimes welcome. In mediaeval Madrid or Rome, it must have been a relief not to be required to appease the Inquisition by applauding yet another lecture on how the sun revolved around the Earth; at Raisina, we were spared too many doctrinal lectures on the need for vaccine and medicines production in every back yard. At a meal in an outside restaurant, where each of us looked over our shoulder frequently to check that our heresy wasn’t being overheard, I spoke to a senior adviser to an African president who agreed that there was no sign anyone would pay a premium for products produced in Africa and that those products would inevitably be much more expensive than vaccines and medicines from highly efficient factories in India and in the advanced economies. Just look at South Africa’s Aspen, he said. 

Why it was better to be with the geeks

The Raisina organisers had made sure that, wherever the attention of the geopoliticians wandered, health would have protected sessions. The briefing book had a number of thought-provoking articles and I was lucky enough to be on the panel of a discussion about “Healthcare, Technology and a Coalition of the Willing” (warning: it’s an 85-minute video).  

The G20 will be chaired by emerging economies for the next three years (assuming a compromise can be found over Russia’s position in it). Indonesia’s turn is first. Dino Patti Djalal, the Chairman of Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, and a former ambassador to the US, said that data and the rules governing access to it would be a focus of its presidency. In a world that has become used to COVID apps as a prerequisite to normal life, he saw vast opportunities for technology to transform healthcare delivery, but no guarantee that it would — more about this in a moment. Indonesia is also pushing for an “IMF of health” that would act as a shared funding pool for countries facing health crises and the G20 is establishing a continuing task force that brings together health and finance ministers. As workforces age, health becomes an ever more vital prerequisite to economic growth.

India, which takes over the G20 in 2023,  has committed massively to digitisation transforming health in a country that will very soon be the world’s most populous. At a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce meeting on a road map for universal health care earlier this year, experts defended plans to have many fewer beds per thousand of population than the global norm by saying that screening and remote management would mean that every bed would be used efficiently. It’s not a pipe dream: multiple emergency rooms in Gujarat are already managed by one specialist supervising local teams of doctors and nurses who act as arms and legs; across Bihar, one of India’s most deprived states, kiosks staffed by paramedics with very basic training link to a call centre staffed by GPs and specialists in Delhi who can send prescriptions, order diagnostic tests or refer the patient immediately.

Preeti Sudan, the Health Secretary who oversaw India’s initial forceful response to COVID, said that the country could not have managed the pandemic without AI predicting emerging hotspots. Nor could it have delivered 1.85 billion vaccine doses of COVID vaccines. 

India takes the potential of artificial intelligence in health so seriously that it has seconded a full ambassador to run I-DAIR, a Geneva-based international collaborative. In the future, massive databases are likely to be more prized assets than a collection of patents or closed collaborations with academic centres. Ambassador Amandeep Gill foresees an alliance of small states and large low and lower-middle income countries. The Switzerlands and Singapores will bring money and expertise; the populous countries will bring data and the chance to find patterns that will transform diagnosis treatment (and fast-emerging health tech hubs in countries such as India and Kenya).

Change, though, is frightening. In many situations, AI can already predict more accurately than humans which pathogen is likely to be responsible for a patient’s infection and can predict which antibiotics are likely to work against it. Why do you need a doctor? This kind of change will be even more profound in areas such as cancer and management of cardiovascular disease. Ss Ambassador Djalal said, “doctors are enormously egotistical, especially when it comes to their revenues”. We need, he said, to prepare for political and social resistance from those who’ve benefited from the current system. 

The last time I saw the figures, Indonesia had fewer than 200 medical oncologists for about 270 million people. If they are worried, imagine how the average American oncologist will feel: there are about 13,000 of them for a population that is only 20% bigger than Indonesia’s. They earn an average of $300,000 a year, according to Glassdoor. As South African minister Kwati Candith Mashego-Dlamini told the panel, health technology will allow South Africa to spread its few oncologists more thinly; that should be what worries the office-based oncologist in Topeka. No one is suggesting that there will be no role for oncologists or cardiologists in the future; just that their role will be different, and probably less well paying. 

The Americans and the Europeans are likely to resist for longer: there are more of them and they account for a much larger percentage of GDP than do their counterparts in middle income countries. Today, Indians can get some cardiovascular surgery with a better chance of survival and at prices as low as two percent of the cost of the procedure in the USA. This achievement was reported by INSEAD, Europe’s leading business school in 2012, but the Indian model has yet to be replicated in Europe or North America.  It is likely, then, that AI-driven healthcare will reach its full potential in India and Indonesia before it does in the United Kingdom or the United States. The advanced economies will probably be late adopters, not refusers, though.

Power will shift in medical research too. A New Scientist article explained it beautifully in 2019. “Because all humans originated in Africa, groups that later migrated elsewhere took only a fraction of genetic diversity with them. Two individuals within an African population will be much more different than two individuals within a European population…The higher level of genetic diversity within Africa gives researchers the opportunity to investigate whether particular gene variants are associated with particular diseases. “For example, if you had a gene that was not variable at all in Europeans, you could not find an association with disease,” says [a researcher].  If there was variability in the same gene in people of African descent, that could lead to the development of a drug that could be used globally.” 

In the new era, Europeans and North Americans will discover that their majority populations are genetically impoverished, while minorities at home and — even more so — people still living in Africa and South Asia hold the key to new medical interventions. Imagine an American HHS Secretary begging a Mozambican health minister for access to the country’s genetic databases. Those geopoliticians will regret missing our session!

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In the United States, we have a seven-day moving average of nearly 85,000 new cases of COVID19 infection. The New York Times reports these disturbing statistics: Ahead of Thanksgiving, the country averaged approximately 95,000 new cases a day, an increase of about 25 percent over the last two weeks. Worsening conditions in the Upper Midwest and Northeast have been the primary driver of this uptrend.

Again, The New York Times: We had over 1,000 deaths from the disease yesterday. Overall that adds to the 48 million cases we’ve seen here and 777,000 deaths. If you live in the United States and want to see the statistics for your state and the nation, here you will find an easy to understand chart:

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

Japan COVID-19 plunge

Enter Japan. I have a particular affinity for the nation, in part because half of my family lives there. I am also privileged to know Empress Masako-sama, which dates back to our college years together.

Let’s get back to our remarkable story. On Nov. 7, Japan recorded no daily deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in more than a year. New daily infections peaked at more than 25,000 during an August wave driven by the infectious Delta variant.

Let’s compare Japan and the United States. Last Monday, Japan reported 50 daily cases of COVID-19 and one death from the disease. The caseload has not been that low since June of last year. And on Monday, Japan reported one death, even as the United States reported over 1,200 deaths.

What about the two largest cities in each nation? Tokyo, with its population of 14 million, reported 27 new cases of COVID. New York City, with a population of 9 million, has been averaging 1,400 new cases daily.

If you want to track the Japanese statistics, here is your link:

Japan: the latest coronavirus counts, charts, and mapsThere have been 1,727,186 infections and 18,367 coronavirus-related deaths reported in the country since the pandemic…

Is it masking? Or the high vaccination rate?

Is Japan doing so well because of its 79 percent vaccination rate? Or maybe it is the nearly universal wearing of face masks. When I ask my Japanese relatives if they find wearing the mask cumbersome, the answer inevitably seems to be no. There has been a long tradition of mask-wearing, especially in winter, in large part to protect others.

But I don’t think the ubiquitous masking is the only reason for Japan’s success against COVID. Go to Singapore or Seoul, and you will find good citizens faithfully wearing their masks.

What about the impressive nearly 80 percent vaccination rate in the country of the rising sun? I mentioned South Korea, where 81.4 percent of the population is vaccinated. And yet COVID-19 infections in South Korea are peaking — the highest daily average reported — now at 3,276 new infections reported daily.

South Korea: the latest coronavirus counts, charts, and maps44 infections per 100K people reported last seven days COVID-19 infections in South Korea are at their peak – the highest…

Provocative new theory

Professor Ituro Inoue (National Institute of Genetics in Mishima, Japan) believes that the new delta variant of COVID-19 has transformed into a flawed virus that cannot copy itself. Thus, the novel coronavirus is self-destructing in Japan.

Here he speaks with Japan Times (Nov. 22, 2021) earlier this week:

“The Delta variant in Japan was highly transmissible and keeping other variants out. But as the mutations piled up, we believe it eventually became a faulty virus, and it was unable to make copies of itself. Considering that the cases haven’t been increasing, we think that at some point during such mutations, it headed straight toward its natural extinction.”

Is this possible? The website People’s Pharmacy reminds us that a natural extinction has occurred once before. Asia had a coronavirus outbreak in 2003, but the SARS outbreak eventually disappeared, sans vaccine.

We shall see if the success continues in Japan, but one wonders if we will be devastated by a new mutated form of COVID before declaring victory. The stock market plummeted today with the news of a new variant of COVID-19 in South Africa.

South African scientists detected a small number of the variant known as B.1.1.529 early this week in samples taken from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16, 2021. The country has identified about 100 cases, mostly from its most populated province, Gauteng, where we find Johannesburg and Pretoria.

I hope we do not all pay the price for focusing on getting me three COVID-19 jabs and not doing nearly as well for our friends in less well-off countries.

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To Harker, the elderly Dracula is well-educated and friendly. Soon, the visitor realizes that he is a prisoner in the castle. Today, I offer you an alternative path to longevity (if not immortality). Rather than go through Transylvania to meet vampires, we go to the remarkable country of Japan.

In the rural northern Okinawan village of Ogimi, there’s a small stone marker with a few sentences written in Japanese.

“At 80, you are merely a youth. At 90, if your ancestors invite you into heaven, ask them to wait until you are 100 — then, you might consider it.”

We have long known about Japanese longevity. The Japanese have lower cancer rates, heart disease, and dementia than those in the United States. The Japanese have the longest life expectancy at birth in the world. Today, I want to share with you some characteristics that likely contribute to their health and longevity.

• Enjoy social interactions. Did you know that the Japanese often have vibrant social circles, with firm commitments to family and friends? For example, moais are social support groups that began in Okinawa, Japan. Parents place young children into these small groups with other children with common interests. The group stays together throughout life. The participants walk with one another, talk together, garden together, eat together, and share life’s joys and challenging experiences. The members of the moai provide one another with lifelong support.
• Embrace ikigai. Can you tell me why you get up each morning? Imbue your life with purpose. What are your values? What do enjoy doing? What do you do well?
• Keep moving. Among older Okinawans, you will find plenty of gardeners and individuals who regularly walk. Enter an Okinawan home, and you may not see much furniture; folks take meals on tatami mats on the floor. By having to get up and down off the floor many times each day, they enhance their balance and lower body strength.

I find it fascinating that the Japanese do not typically work out hardcore at the gym. Some may practice yoga, but the dominant form of physical activity appears to be merely walking. Okinawans are fortunate to have abundant sun (and its associated vitamin D) and lean towards plant-based diets (with lots of tofu, stir-fried vegetables, and sweet potatoes. Maybe you can garden for healthy food, and a bit of activity! For me, it is a reminder that fitness does not always require vigorous exercise.

Are there other zones of longevity across the globe? The island of Okinawa, south of mainland Japan, is one. Different so-called blue zones, defined by National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner include:

• Sardinia, Italy
• Nicoya, Costa Rica
• Ikaria, Greece
• Loma Linda, USA

I look forward to exploring these blue zones with you.

The post 3 Ways to Achieve Longevity the Okinawan Way appeared first on Medika Life.