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The First U.S.‐Japan Teratology Seminar, 1965
Author(s) -
Miller Robert W.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
congenital anomalies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-4520
pISSN - 0914-3505
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-4520.2001.tb00872.x
Subject(s) - death certificate , congenital malformations , medicine , birth certificate , epidemiology , teratology , demography , family medicine , gerontology , pediatrics , cause of death , pregnancy , environmental health , population , pathology , genetics , sociology , disease , biology , gestation
ABSTRACT A U.S.‐Japan Seminar on was held in Tokyo on November 1–5, 1965 on “Epidemiological Studies into the Etiology of Congenital Malformations and Cancer.” It was convened by Dr. Hideo Nishimura of Kyoto University and Dr. Robert W. Miller of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The main purposes were to introduce teratologists from the two countries to one another and to seek new areas of research. Among the assets for research in Japan were 1) Dr. Nishimura's collection of embryos for studies of normal intrauterine growth and for studies of congenital malformations among spontaneous miscarriages; 2) the availability of standard occupational records for information related to reproductive performance; 3) the family registry ( koseki ), useful for follow‐up studies, vital events and evidence of consanguinity; 4) the Metropolitan Tokyo Children's Cancer Registry which soon after was extended to 5 more metropolitan areas; 5) the annual publication of autopsy summaries; 6) data from the (U.S.‐Japan) Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; 6) death‐certificate diagnoses for migrants from Japan to the U.S. among whom studies of changes in cancer rates had been initiated at the NCI. Also in Japan 7% of marital partners were second‐cousins or closer, of interest in studying genetic effects on the occurrence of cancer or congenital malformations. The seminar was followed by a workshop on methods in teratology held in Kyoto in 1968. These meetings led to progressive increases in the exchange of scientists and information.