Meetings

The “Wakuwaku Aira Dinosaur Museum Exhibition,” organized by Aira City in cooperation with Okayama University of Science, concluded successfully on December 27, 2025, attracting a total of 11,580 visitors over eight days. Held at Aira Square in the city’s newly completed municipal office building, the exhibition showcased approximately 20 dinosaur-related specimens, including a full-body tyrannosaurid skeletal reconstruction, a Triceratops skull, and Tarbosaurus fossils.

The exhibition emphasized hands-on learning and research outreach, featuring a recreated excavation site from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, along with panels and videos introducing paleontological fieldwork. Daily workshops allowed children to experience fossil replica making and fossil cleaning activities. Students from the Faculty of Biosphere-Geosphere Science served as guides, providing accessible explanations of dinosaur research to visitors.

On the final day, an educational lecture titled “Digging for Dinosaurs in Mongolia!” was delivered by Masato Fujita, professor of dinosaur paleontology and director of the Museum of Dinosaur Research at Okayama University of Science, attracting approximately 150 attendees.

Originally expected to draw around 5,000 visitors, the exhibition’s turnout more than doubled projections, highlighting strong public interest in dinosaurs and science education. Organizers noted that the combination of authentic research content, interactive experiences, and student-led explanations contributed significantly to the exhibition’s success.

Governments, private sector, and experts to explore strategies for protecting vital submarine telecommunications cables during International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit 2026 in Porto, Portugal (2-3 February).

Insilico Medicine announced it will present three abstracts at the 2026 Crohn’s & Colitis Congress in Las Vegas on January 23, 2026, featuring new data supporting the continued development of ISM5411 (ISM012-042), an orally administered, gut-restricted small-molecule inhibitor of PHD1/2 for inflammatory bowel disease. ISM5411 is designed to stabilize HIF-1α locally in the gastrointestinal tract to promote protective mucosal gene expression, support intestinal barrier repair, and reduce inflammation while limiting systemic exposure.

The presentations include first-in-human Phase 1 results in healthy volunteers showing favorable safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics consistent with gut restriction; 13-week repeat-dose toxicology studies in rats and dogs demonstrating good tolerability and a NOAEL at the highest dose tested; and preclinical efficacy in a chronic T cell transfer-induced colitis model, where ISM5411 reduced disease severity in both preventive and therapeutic settings, including in combination with anti-TNF therapy. Together, the data reinforce ISM5411’s potential as a novel approach to IBD that supports mucosal healing by strengthening epithelial integrity while regulating inflammatory pathways.