Message from the President

Message from the New President　（2022.8）

President　Takashi Kamei
Professor of Gastroenterological Surgery,
Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine

The Japanese Society for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition aims to contribute to the improvement of national healthcare through research, clinical practice, and education in surgical, emergency, and related invasive medicine fields, as well as metabolic and nutritional sciences. Recognizing our Society's rich tradition as a leader in surgical metabolic nutrition for over half a century, I deeply feel the weight of this responsibility as the President.

Our Society traces its origins to the "Postoperative Metabolism Research Association," established in 1965, which first convened to discuss the metabolic and nutritional management of patients before and after surgery. In 1981, the Society evolved into the "Japanese Society for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition (JSSMN)" and has continued in this form to the present day. Over the years, surgical and emergency techniques have advanced remarkably, leading to a significant improvement in treatment outcomes. This progress can be attributed not only to advances in surgical techniques, anesthesia, and intensive care, but also to the development of active perioperative management practices. The scientific understanding of biological responses, metabolism, immune reactions to surgical stress, and the interventions in fluid therapy, nutrition, immune support, and infection control, has significantly shaped our evolving practices. The importance of these areas is expected to continue growing, and we hope to keep pioneering and innovating for the benefit of our patients.

The role of metabolic nutrition in the care of complex pediatric and elderly cancer patients, whose survival rates are improving, and in maintaining postoperative quality of life (QOL), is critical. However, it is evident that this area, often covered in the "general principles" section of surgical textbooks, tends to receive less the attention of young physicians compared to more visually striking topics like robotic surgery. Previous Presidents and board members have raised concern about the potential decline in expertise within the surgical metabolic nutrition field and have emphasized the need for expanding the scope of our field. They hoped that the JSSMN would serve as the central hub for elevating this discipline through interactions with many related fields. I will continue this approach to contribute to the development of surgical metabolic nutrition by engaging in regular exchanges with relevant academic societies and collaborating closely with research groups, including international societies of surgical metabolism and nutrition.

Recently, the field of invasive medicine and metabolic nutrition has been enriched by insights from various disciplines, and is advancing in an interdisciplinary manner. We anticipate new findings that could transform treatment approaches, such as genome-wide analysis, personalized biological responses, microbiome analysis in pathophysiology, the true significance of sarcopenia and appropriate interventions, and the impact of oral health. Moreover, as clinical research continues to build evidence, we hope that this will be translated back into clinical practice. The importance of basic research is universal, and medical progress cannot occur without it. To further develop our Society while preserving its traditions, I sincerely ask for your continued support, cooperation, and active participation in our academic activities.