The 23^rd Meeting of the Hiroshima Local Liaison Council was held at Hiroshima RERF on December 13, 2018. The Local Liaison Council was established to incorporate local community input in RERF’s operations. Of the 15 regular Council members, 10 were in attendance, including one participant acting on behalf of a regular Council member. The participants engaged in active discussion during the course of the meeting.

With Hiroshima University President Mitsuo Ochi serving as Council Chairperson, Dr. Ohtsura Niwa, RERF Chairman, reported on circumstances since the last Council meeting (January of 2017). More reports followed: Dr. Robert L. Ullrich, RERF Vice Chairman and Executive Director, spoke on recent research results; Dr. Eric J. Grant, Associate Chief of Research, on the “Research Resource Center”; and Dr. Kazunori Kodama, Executive Director, on the establishment this year (2018) of the “Stakeholder Committee on Usage of RERF’s Stored Biosamples.”

Dr. Kodama also reported on the “Epidemiological Study of Health Effects in Fukushima Emergency Workers.” Since this is that study’s final year of the first cycle (with each cycle comprising five years), a discussion ensued regarding results from the first cycle. Following that, Dr. Niwa reported on RERF’s future plans and strategic plans.

When the Council members were asked for comments about other topics, Hiroshima City Deputy Mayor Shiro Tani explained the Hiroshima City government’s wishes for the realization of RERF’s relocation. In response, several Council members expressed their active support for relocation, citing such reasons as enhanced collaboration with local related organizations and medical associations and RERF’s further development in the future.

In his final comments, Dr. Ochi affirmed, “I would hope that RERF conducts its operations after firmly considering the opinions provided today and fully utilizes such ideas in its future operations.”

With that, the 23^rd Meeting of the Hiroshima Local Liaison Council adjourned.