Tamami Fukushi is a professor at Faculty of Human Welfare, Tokyo Online University. She
started career in Neuroethics at the Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society
(RISTEX), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) as a researcher of cohort project called “Japan Children’s Study Group”. She organized the first international symposium of
neuroethics in Asian region in July 2006 in Japan and contributed to a dissemination of
neuroethics. After closing the cohort project, she experienced science policy at Center for
Research and development Strategies (CRDS) in JST and regulatory science at
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), extending her career to science policy
making and international cooperation/harmonization in life science and medicines. In 2017
she rebooted neuroethics activity to re-organize relevant community in Japan and Asia. Her
current interest of neuroethics is Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in addition toethics education of advanced technology of neuroscience in the context of engineering
ethics, science policy and regulatory science.
1. What’s the first thing you do when you get to work in the morning?
The university I work for is centered around online, on-demand education, so there is no need to go to the university for classes in my daily life. For that reason, I usually work from home. When I wake up in the morning and have breakfast, I start the process of switching my mindset to work mode. The first thing I do is put in my contact lenses. After that, I put on my makeup and jacket for meetings. Before I turn on my computer, I make myself a cup of coffee. This is a very important routine, and the smell of the coffee completely switches me to work mode. If I'm going to the university, I drink my coffee at home before I leave, and when I get to the office, I start by checking the mail, turning my nameplate to the red side to show that I'm at work in the office.
2. What’s your work routine like?
The work is divided into education and research. In the education part, I am involved in recording lectures delivered for the university students and answering questions and consultations from them. In the research part, I work on my own research (preparing documents related to the grant application and reporting on the research that has been approved), as well as writing and submitting scientific papers, and also work as a reviewer and editorial board member for academic journals. In addition, I am the chair of the ethics review committee for human subject research at my university and lead the ethics review process several times a year.
3. Are you involved in the theoretical, investigative, or the practical/translational aspect of neuroethics? Describe your research area briefly.
Much of my interest lies in literature research and practical research. The basis for this is my desire to bring the ideas and methodologies of Responsible Research and Innovation to the neuroscience and neuroethics communities in Japan and link them to international collaborative activities. To this end, I am not only reading reports and papers on initiatives related to the governance and the regulation of cutting-edge science and technology, risk management, and public engagement being carried out abroad, but I am also gathering information by participating in on-line workshops and webinars. Based on these, I would like to create educational materials for neuroethics for professionals and university and graduate students, verify the effects of taking the course, and customize them to make the most of the characteristics of face-to-face and online learning, as part of my own research. As a more practical approach, I am working on creating effective rules by participating in meetings to formulate actual guidelines and international standards.
4. What’s a challenge that you face on a daily basis as a neuroethicist?
In particular, meetings related to international cooperation and those hosted by various international organizations and foundations often take place in the late night to early morning hours in Japan. As these meetings don't coincide with my daily work schedule, they are easy to attend, but they can also affect my sleeping hours and lifestyle. You can imagine that it's so tough having to give up your evening drink when you're eating dinner. Also, if you have to go straight to bed after a meeting where you're required to keep the screen on, you have to get ready for bed in the middle of the night, putting on makeup and getting dressed, so it takes even longer to wash your face and change after the meeting, and you end up going to bed late. However, these are not essential problems. Neuroethics is still a small academic field and community in Japan. Increasing the number of researchers and improving our presence are the biggest challenges and challenges we face.
5. How do you determine what questions deserve the most focus and attention in your work?
I gather information on neuroethics in a comprehensive and all-encompassing manner, but when it comes to picking out the issues that are worth paying attention to from that, I use the following criteria Reliability of the information source Consistency with the content being disseminated from other highly reliable sources Clarity of the relationship with the trends of previous academic discussions and international trends
6. What do you wish more people understood about being a neuroethicist? Whether it be from a schooling, interest, or day-in-the-life point of view? Describe neuroethics in your own words.
Neuroethics is the study of the pros and cons of understanding human beings through neuroscience. At the same time, neuroethics is also an activity in which we think about and put into practice how human society should deal with the findings and technologies brought about by neuroscience, and the services that use them. From this perspective, rather than being simply applied ethics, its character as a trans-science should perhaps be emphasized more.
7. What skills or training do you most frequently use in your work and how do you suggest more people gain these skills if they want to contribute to the field?
As I mentioned in my answer to question 6th, neuroethics has elements of trans-science, and it is necessary to combine one's academic and professional experience in a comprehensive way. In this sense, technical skills related to information gathering and organization are highly important. In addition, skills for logical thinking and scientific writing, in other words, the ability to combine acquired knowledge and conduct logical consideration and to think about writing, would be always required. In addition to this, it is also important to acquire basic knowledge of bioethics and medical ethics, and to have opportunities for basic training to understand neuroscience experimental methods and advanced technologies.
8. What do you love most about your work? What keeps you motivated?
It is so hard work to participate in activities to promote and raise awareness of neuroethics, and to take part in discussions on the creation of international rules. However, you can make new friends and gain knowledge through this, and you can contribute to opening new horizons in neuroethics. To this end, I maintain my motivation by holding discussions with like-minded people in Japan and overseas.
9. What’s one thing you wished you did differently in your career trajectory?
I don't think my career path is the best, but when you ask me whether I made the wrong choice at the turning points so far, I don't know. Because water always flows to the lowest point and things will eventually come to a conclusion. However, when I changed my research field from the experimental approach of neuroscience, I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I had chosen to stay in the US instead of returning to Japan.
10. What’s one thing you could advice the next generation of neuroethicists?
It is important to have a core knowledge base and academic background that can serve as a foundation for your own work. The academic field you choose is not important, but please choose something that you can study with confidence and a sense of purpose. In addition, considering the trans-disciplinary nature of neuroethics, you should not be afraid to take the opportunity to expand your knowledge base through self-study.
11. What’s the last thing you do when you leave work in the evening?
In the university, I change the schedule magnet on the wall of the office space to “Out of Work”, and change the nameplate to the white side, which means absence. At home, just go ahead for dinner.
This post is part of the Neuroethics Today blog series 'A Day in the Life of a Neuroethicist' where we bring you answers to questions by junior and senior neuroethicists about a day in their life to give you a better idea of what neuroethicists do, what have they learned throughout their trajectory, and ways that you can do it too.
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