The conference was held to facilitate research collaborations between US and Japan scientists, and to commemorate the rich history of the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope (COH) research contributed by many Japanese doctors. Most noticeable is Dr. Ryojun Kinoshita, an internationally renowned oncologist who built the first research team at the campus of COH Medical Center in 1952. The conference received enthusiastic support from Junichi Ihara, Consul General of Japan, Los Angeles. During the two day conference, seven scientists from Japan, six scientists from Southern California, and six scientists from COH presented various aspects of cancer and diabetes research which included nuclear receptor regulation, DNA base and chromatin modifications, cancer glycosylation, circadian clock, cell polarity, tumorigenesis, micro and small RNA therapies, genomics, epigenetics, and signaling.