The Oita University Faculty of Medicine's Department of Clinical Pharmacology was established shortly after the foundation of Oita Medical University (the predecessor of Oita University Faculty of Medicine) in 1982. It is the first Clinical Pharmacology department that belongs to clinical medicine in Japan. Since then, it has become a model for clinical pharmacology departments established in our country.
Dr, Akio Ebihara was the first appointed professor of the department followed by Dr. Shigeyuki Nakano in 1989. Since 2005, Dr. Kyoichi Ohashi, a professor from Hamamatsu filled the role.

Clinical Pharmacology is an interdisciplinary study with the aim of establishing a rational approach to pharmacotherapy. Recent scientific development has allowed for the creation of a number of new drugs with new Mechanisms of Action. These drugs have made it possible to treat a range of diseases and have benefited humanity greatly.
Of course, many drugs can also cause adverse reactions. As the number of elderly people in society increases, the number of complications in illnesses increase as well. This leads to the problem of polypharmacy (the use of multiple medications). Of late, it has become clear that genetic polymorphism plays a role in how a drug's efficacy differs depending on the individual.

Because of this, the traditional methods of prescribing, which rely on the experience and intuition of the physician, are no longer sufficient.
Therefore it is extremely important to establish a system of safe, effective pharmacotherapy through scientific drug evaluation in order to determine application and dosage design which allows for pharmacokinetics (drug disposition) based on the specifics of a particular medical condition. Our Clinical Pharmacology department is conducting the medical education, research and treatment that will establish a scientific approach to pharmacotherapy.

The University Hospital has established a Clinical Pharmacology Center. In order to better practice scientific pharmacotherapy, it is divided into two divisions: pharmacotherapy support and clinical trail support.
Unlike other clinical trail centers throughout Japan, we have a medical service sector. We are aiming to create tailor-made pharmacotherapy solutions based on genetic polymorphism and blood drug concentration.
In addition to this, we provide medicine and psychosomatic outpatient counseling services.
The Clinical Trail Support Division has an outpatient clinic which specializes in the discovery and development of new medicines. It also supports the clinical trails conducted by other departments.