Mori Building launches joint research project with Keio University School of Medicine

Mori Building Co Ltd on Monday announced that in conjunction with Keio University, one of Japan's top private educational institutions, it has launched a  research project aimed at promoting the wellness of people living in urban environments. The project will involve the collection of participants’ health data using monitors and other wearable devices, as well as questionnaires on their eating behaviors and mental states. The aim will be to investigate the effects of dietary intervention on various aspects of participants’ health.

Mori Building’s Toranomon-Azabudai Project, slated for completion in 2023, will be built on the central pillars  of "Green" and "Wellness" with the aim of facilitating a healthy living and working environment for people of  all ages. Each aspect of the development will be reviewed in terms of its contribution to the wellness of everyone living and working there. As part of their basic agreement concluded in March 2021, Mori Building  and Keio University have agreed on the relocation and expansion of the latter’s Center for Preventive Medicine to the site of the Toranomon-Azabudai Project. In April 2021, the two entities also opened the Hills Joint Research Laboratory for Future Preventive Medicine and Wellness, and are currently conducting research in conjunction with Dr Kazuhiro Kashiwagi and Dr Taishiro Kishimoto, both specially appointed professors.

The Toranomon-Azabudai Project aims to promote the development and implementation of new preventive  medicine and wellness services for urban dwellers, in collaboration with the Center for Preventive Medicine and other Mori Building Hills facilities. Through the operation of this joint research laboratory, the two entities will not only contribute to the health of people living and working in Hills complexes, but will also promote research activities through collaboration between industry, academia and the private sector, with the aim of  developing preventive medicines that can be passed on to future generations.

In February, Mori Building and Keio University embarked on the first phase of a joint research project involving the participation of 40 employees of Mori Building. Using a combination of blood glucose monitors, other wearable devices, and comprehensively analyzing information collected by means of questionnaires, data related to daily blood glucose fluctuations, daily activity data (activity level, sleep data, heart rate, etc), mental status (perceived stress levels, life satisfaction scores, sleepiness, etc), are being collected and analyzed to ascertain any changes in mental status and other factors caused by blood glucose fluctuations. In addition, a dietitian is providing employees with advice on dietary behavior, with the aim of qualifying the effects of dietary intervention on blood glucose fluctuations and other indicators.

Source: Mori Building Co

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