Motohiro Kato
President of the 18th Congress of ASPR
Professor, The University of Tokyo

Dear ASPR members,

It is our pleasure to welcome you all to the 18th Congress of the Asian Society for Pediatric Research (ASPR), which will be held virtually on November 11-12, 2023.

Although we may not be able to meet in person, we are confident that our online platform will provide opportunities for engaging in discussions and productive exchanges. Our program has been carefully designed to offer a variety of presentations and sessions that we believe will be of great interest to all of you.

In this congress, the theme is “Developing the Future from the Past and Present”. This phrase is inspired by the proverb, "温故知新". The idea behind this proverb is that by learning from the past, we can gain new insights and knowledge that can be applied to current and future situations. This proverb emphasizes the importance of understanding history and tradition in order to move forward and innovate. In essence, the theme encourages us to approach learning and problem-solving with an open mind, drawing on both the wisdom of the past and the possibilities of the future.

As we move forward with the conference, I encourage you all to take advantage of the networking opportunities available to you. While we may be separated by distance, this online platform provides a unique opportunity to connect with colleagues and peers from around Asia.

We hope that you will find this online conference to be both informative and inspiring and that it will serve as a catalyst for further collaboration and knowledge-sharing in the months and years ahead.

Sincerely,

Motohiro Kato