IRES: Track I: Insights into human evolution gained from genetic, morphological, and neuroscientific analyses at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, Japan

Kent State University, Kent OH

Investigators

Abstract

This International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) Track I award will provide 18 U.S. students with a rare and invaluable research opportunity at the Primate Research Institute (PRI) of Kyoto University in Japan to conduct research related to the use of nonhuman primate models to gain insight into human evolutionary history. Modern humans are the sole remaining lineage of a much larger radiation of bipedal apes that included multiple genera and a number of species. Direct studies of human evolution, however, are severely limited by an incomplete fossil record and the absence of a genetic record beyond modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. Consequently, to gain insight into crucial issues of human evolution, we must study living nonhuman primates. Humans are unique in a variety of cognitive, behavioral, physiological, and social characteristics. These variables also contribute to such things as feminized canines, permanently enlarged mammary glands, relatively low sperm count and motility in males, and susceptibility to diseases not documented in other species, including schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. Comparative studies that include nonhuman primates are pivotal for identifying the genetic, neuroanatomical, and morphological features that define what it is to be human. The Primate Research Institute (PRI) provides the ideal setting for investigating these issues because it is arguably the most resource-rich primate center in the world, and the research teams there conduct holistic studies of human and nonhuman primates from mind, body, and molecular perspectives. The Kent State-Kyoto University IRES site will enable six Kent State graduate students to travel to the PRI in each of the next three summers (2020-2022) to conduct nine-week research projects under Japanese mentors. This program will be a significant launchpad for the personal and professional development of the students. They will develop basic language competency in Japanese; they will gain an understanding of Japanese society, especially scientific culture; they will build a network of international collaborators very early in their careers; and they will gain increased mobility and employability in a global labor market. The connections made by these students will also serve to further strengthen ties with Japan, an important political, economic, and scientific partner of the United States. More than half of the student participants will be women, with a number from minority groups, thus advancing societal goals of making the U.S. pool of researchers more diverse and inclusive. Upon completion of this IRES program, a final report describing intercultural successes and missteps, and how they were resolved, will be prepared for the NSF and made available on the Kent State University website. This report will help guide the development of similar U.S.-Japan scientific collaborations in the future. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.