Yoshihiro Nabeya, M.D., Ph.D., F.I.C.S.
President, The 36th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism
Vice Director / Chairman of Nutrition Support Team (NST),
CHIBA CANCER CENTER
Clinical Professor, Chiba University School of Medicine

The 36th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (JSPEN2021) will be held in Kobe on Thursday, February 18 and Friday, February 19, 2021.　Having changed its name in 2020 from the Japanese Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, the Japanese Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (JSPEN is still used as a common name) now has around 22,000 members, and its Annual Meeting attracts over 10,000 enthusiastic participants concerned with clinical nutrition.　For this reason, the choice of venue has not been restricted by the location of the affiliation of the Congress President, and the venue of the upcoming JSPEN2021 will be the Kobe Convention Center, comprising the Kobe International Conference Center, the Kobe International Exhibition Hall, and the Kobe Portopia Hotel.

The academic society, JSPEN, was founded in 1985, the year I graduated from Chiba University Medical School.　I first presented my research at its 4th Annual Meeting in Sapporo in 1989, and since then I have learned a great deal at JSPEN meetings, made many friends, and gained irreplaceable experiences.　Among my fellow alumni of the Second Department of Surgery of Chiba University (now the Department of Frontier Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine), Professor Hiroshi Sato held the first meeting of the Japanese Study Group of Elemental Diet, one of the original academic groups of the JSPEN, in 1977, while the 6th meeting of the JSPEN was organized by Professor Shohei Ogoshi and the 11th meeting by Professor Sadahito Usui.　In addition, after Professor Nobuyuki Nakajima of the First Department of Surgery of Chiba University had organized the 13th meeting in 1998, the JSPEN was reborn as a bigger academic society with Professor Shohei Ogoshi as its first Chairman of the Board of Trustees.　Although I feel far from my distinguished predecessors who contributed so greatly to the development of the JSPEN, as a fellow graduate of Chiba University, it is both a great honor and a serious responsibility to have been appointed as the Congress President of JSPEN2021.　Once again, I would like to thank the academic members for giving me this opportunity.

The theme of JSPEN2021 is “Learn from the Past for the Present and Future of Nutrition Therapy.”　As the Society starts academic activities under its new name, I hope we can look back at our history and consider both our current situation and what should be passed on to the next generation.　We are planning a substantial program to disclose many novel study results from different perspectives, and we will also try to make this JSPEN2021 a place both to learn and to engage in the lively exchange of opinions.　From JSPEN2021, some abstracts are subject to ethical review, but the JSPEN will offer robust support for your presentation.　Please check the website for details, and we hope to receive as many abstract submissions as in previous years.

As you know, it was necessary to take the difficult decision to cancel the on-site 35th Annual Meeting, the first since the change of the Society name, which was scheduled in February 2020.　We sincerely apologize to everyone who had been looking forward to attending.　We will carry on the momentum of this year, and all of our staff engaged in clinical nutrition in Chiba Prefecture including Chiba Cancer Center are doing our best to prepare JSPEN2021, so that a fruitful 36th Annual Meeting can be held in February 2021.　Although we will not be on our home ground, Kobe is one of my favorite cities, and is easily accessed from all over Japan.　I am looking forward to seeing as many as possible of you in Kobe.