Forensic Medicine Lecture

Research room overview

The current 6th Professor, Toshikazu Kondo, left Kanawaza University for his new post at Wakayama Medical University in April 2003.  Our research room has been in operation since the first professor, Toji Doi, took his post, followed by Professor Toru Suzutani, Professor Taizo Nagano, Professor Choei Wakasugi, and Professor Tsutomu Tsuji.

After Professor Kondo became in charge, we have performed over 100 forensic autopsies, and its number has been increasing, exceeding 150 autopsies in 2007.  We currently perform well over 200 autopsies a year.  Although we are busy with our daily forensic practice, as the only organization to perform forensic autopsies in Wakayama prefecture, we do our best to fulfill great responsibilities by playing an important role in supporting the social justice.  Needless to say, we work not only on forensic practice, but also on education and research.  We develop research from forensic medicine to state-of-the-art cell biology under a large theme of “invasion and biological response.”  To be specific, our research includes an application of determining elapsed time after skin damage, of which indicators are cytokine and chemokine, to forensic practice.  Additionally, we aim to reveal the molecular mechanism of skin injury healing and molecular pathophysiology of traumatic shock and drug addiction using genetically modified animals.  We aggressively present the research outcomes not only in the field of forensic medicine, but also in fields other than forensic medicine, and we are proud to be highly commended in each field.  Furthermore, students in the MD-PhD program or those interested in forensic medicine constantly come and join us.  We provide them with an environment to participate in on-the-ground research and forensic practice.  In this way, we are working to develop human resources as future leaders in forensic medicine.

Education overview

In order to analyze and figure out the cause of abnormal deaths that occurred in a group, we aim to have the students understand multiple points of contact between medicine and law in society and acquire an attitude to fulfill the duties of forensic medicine.

Our education contents include lectures on death and the elapsed time after death, damage and cause of death, suffocation, intoxication, damages from traffic accident, abnormal death of infants, death under abnormal circumstances, sudden unexpected natural death, abnormalities related to sex, and identification of individuals in a group.  Also, we demonstrate blood typing, show and explain autopsies by using slides, and provide opportunities to observe as many autopsies as possible to promote students’ comprehensive understanding.

Research overview

In order to analyze the roles of bioactive substances, such as cytokine and chemokine in biological response to external stimuli, we develop disorder and pathological models that are considered essential for the analyses, which we perform by using genetically modified mice.

1. Skin injury healing model
2. Acute or chronic pulmonary disorder model
3. Acute hepatic disorder model
4. Acute renal disorder model
5. Acute pancreatic disorder model

Achievements

Undergraduate

• School of Medicine
  • Message from the Dean
  • List of Medicine
• School of Health and Nursing Science
  • Message from the Dean
• School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Message from the Dean

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