This department was established in 2000 with Masahiro Kihara as its first professor. The Department of Socio-epidemiology, which integrates epidemiology and social science, has advocated a comprehensive methodology for public health, and has promoted education and research that inherits the tradition of Kyoto University’s emphasis on this field. In addition to pioneering and leading epidemiological research on HIV infection in Japan, the University has actively promoted global health research with the participation of many students from developing countries, and in 2006 was designated as a Joint Research Center of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
In September 2020, Naoki Kondo was appointed as the second professor. Inheriting the tradition of field-oriented research, Professor Kondo emphasizes the importance of using large-scale quantitative data and of implementing the findings from research in a wide range of social systems, while collaborating with diverse organizations. The current lab name is the Department of Social Epidemiology.
Member
Professor
Naoki Kondo
Research: Social epidemiology, Health equity, Social determinants of health
People’s health is affected by social circumstances such as education, income, occupation, and their connections. It is also affected by national and regional policies, culture, economic trends, income disparity, and other social factors. Therefore, it is not possible to protect people’s health only with approaches that encourage individuals to take rational actions such as “exercise moderately” or “stop smoking”. Social epidemiology uses epidemiological methods to elucidate these “social determinants of health” and to control the health disparities that arise from them. Our goal is to create a society in which everyone can be naturally healthy.
Assistant Professor
Maho Haseda
Research: Health Inequalities, Intersectoral collaboration, Gerontology, Primary Care
Dr.Haseda is a Japan Primary Care Association (JPCA)/ Japanese Association for Home Care Medicine (JAHCM) certified primary care physician. Her main research interest is health inequalities among older people. She works to contribute to a society where people in any situation can live their lives even in their later lives.
Assistant Professor
Koryu Sato
Research: Health Economics, Social Security, Educational Inequalities, Health and Productivity Management, Gerontology
After working for 12 years at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), where he was involved in planning medical and long-term care insurance policies, Dr. Sato jumped into the world of research. He is interested in various fields including health, education, economics, and policy.
Assistant Professor
Kosuke Inoue
Research: Clinical Epidemiology, Causal Inference, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Health Services Research
Dr. Inoue is a clinician and epidemiologist. He specializes in the development of methodologies in causal inference (the study of cause and effect) and their application to the field of non-communicable diseases (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, obesity, etc). By identifying the causal mechanisms involved in these diseases and associated social risks, he aims to contribute to the development of scientific evidence to improve population health.
Research Fellow
Keiko Ueno
Research: Social determinants of health, Community health
She is researching ways to provide health support in the community for the elderly and needy households.
Research Fellow
Shiho Kino
Research: Health Inequality, Social Epidemiology, Dental Public Health, Social Welfare
Dr. Kino is researching the role that society can play in reducing health disparities. She has been based in the UK and the US. In recent years, her research has focused on the mental health of earthquake victims and low-income people in Japan.
Guest Researcher
Minami Sugimoto
Research: Nutritional epidemiology, dietary assessment methods, diet-related environmental impact, sustainable healthy diets
Dr. Sugimoto is developing methodologies and analyzing data with the aim of identifying and encouraging dietary and eating behavior patterns that promote people’s health and do not impact the global environment.
Guest Researcher
Hisataka Anezaki
Research: Health economics, Valuing health services, health check-ups and health behaviour
Dr. Anezaki focuses on the valuing of medical services from the perspective of patients and users of medical services.
Research Fellow
Airi Amemiya
Research: Social determinants of health, Community-based interventions, Home care
Dr. Amemiya’s research focuses on identifying and understanding the social determinants of health.
Research Fellow
Andrew Stickley
Research: Mental Health, Public Health, Environmental Epidemiology
Dr. Stickley’s main research interests include loneliness, suicidal behavior, neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD, ASD), common mental disorders, psychotic experiences, disability, alcohol epidemiology, health risk behaviors, health inequalities, violence.
Research Fellow
Daisuke Nishioka
Research: Public assistance, Social determinants of health, Social epidemiology, Social Welfare, Social Work
Lecturer, Department of Medical Statistics, Research & Development Center, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University/ Family Doctor/ Social Worker/ Care Manager/ His research focuses on the health of people living in poverty.
Research Fellow
Takashi Miyashita
Research：Social Marketing
Guest Scholar
Yanzhang Li
Dr Li focuses on disability and frailty research of community-dwelling older adults including three aspects: study, research and cooperation.
Adjunct Lecturer
Yuri Ito
Research：Health statistics and epidemiology, Cancer registries and cancer screening, Health inequalities, Database studies
Associate Professor, Department of Medical Statistics, Research & Development Center Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
Adjunct Lecturer
Masamitsu Kamada
Research：Physical activity
Lecturer, Department of Health Education and Health Sociology, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Adjunct Lecturer
Daisuke Takagi
Research：Social psychology, Sociology, Social epidemiology, Criminology, Geographical analysis
Lecturer, Departments of Health and Social Behavior, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Adjunct Lecturer
Yoshihisa Fujino
Research： Epidemiology, Public health, Occupational health, Presenteeism, Compatibility support, Health disparities, Health Impact Assessment; HIA
Professor, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health
Adjunct Lecturer
Daisuke Nishioka
Research：Welfare, Public assistance, Remote medical care, Social epidemiology, Social welfare studies
Lecturer, Department of Medical Statistics, Research & Development Center, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
Adjunct Lecturer
Kaori Honjo
Research：Epidemiology, Social Epidemiology, Health inequalities, Gender
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University
Doctoral student
Marisa Nishio
Research: Social determinants of health, Health policy, Intrinsic capacity, Global health
Her research focuses on the development of new measures for older people’s health and of social environments that support individuals’ health.
Doctoral student
Sho Takeda
Research: Ikigai, Inequality within a community, Social prescribing
He is an occupational therapist (OT). He is interested in disparities in the participation of elderly people living in the community in hobbies and activities of daily living, regional disparities, as well as support for the hobbies and activities of daily living of elderly people and their health-promoting effects, and social prescriptions.
Doctoral student
Nana Ishimura
Research: Social determinants of health, Health Inequality, Dialysis therapy and Nephrology
Nephrologist and dialysis specialist. She enrolled in this program to study how to measure and correct health disparities. She would like to study the relationship between disease and social factors, with a focus on renal disease and dialysis care.
Doctoral student
Du Zhen
Research：Social determinants of health, Health Inequality, Older adults
She is interested in social determinants of health and health care for the older adults, especially physical activity and psychosocial aspects and cognitive function. She would like to improve the health of the older adults by finding the factors that affect their health.
Doctoral student
Hanae Nagata
Research：Health Promotion, Health and Productivity Management, Social determinants of health
She is an occupational physician and occupational health consultant. She is interested in health and productivity management through health promotion programs.
Doctoral student
Hiroko Sakurai
Research：Health Inequality, Chronic disease, Regional medical care, Primary Health Care, Social capital
She is a family physician. She is studying in this lab while engaging in primary care at Iwate Prefecture. She would like to explore what residents and primary care providers can do in an aging and decreasing population region.
Doctoral student
Yoshikazu Komura
Research：Social determinants of Mental disorder, Causal inference, Child psychiatry
He aims to build evidence to realize a world where all people can lead healthy lives.
Doctoral student
Paul Pereyra
Research： Social Epidemiology, Social Determinants of Health, Health Inequality, Causal Inference
He is a Physician and Physical Therapist (PT), focusing on understanding social determinants of health and reducing health disparities. His research interest is causal inference, reverse causation, and social capital. His purpose is to achieve health equality in society through research on social epidemiology.
Master’s student
Liu Qiuyi
Research：Social determinants of health, Social isolation, Health Inequality
She is interested in the impact of the social environment on health, especially health problems caused by loneliness and isolation.
Master’s student
Yuma Goto
Research：Social epidemiology, Health Inequality, Social capital
He is an occupational therapist. He is interested in community development that enables the older adults to live healthily in the community and in the relationship between social participation and health. He will do his best to contribute to reducing health inequalities through my research.
Master’s student
Kaori Suga
Research：Cancer survivorship, The association between medical care and health and economic inequality, Universal Health Coverage
Based on her clinical nursing experience, She is interested in correcting various inequities in healthcare and other areas. Her goal is to contribute to realize the spread of Universal Health Coverage.
Master’s student
Kokoro Harii
Research：Health Inequality, Social determinants of health, Global health
She is interested in how social determinants and discrimination affect the health of foreign residents and immigrants in Japan. Through her research, She aims to correct health disparities and discrimination and build a equitable Society.
Master’s student（Double digree programs, Thailand Mahidol University ）
Dorn Sornsil
Research：Social determinants of health, Primary care, Primary health care, Community health
He is a physician who has work experience in primary care in Thailand. His research focuses on the influence of social determinants of health, especially the primary care system on population health and health inequalities. He is also interested in the Community-Oriented Primary Care (COPC) approach to strengthening community empowerment and promoting a broad view of health.
Collaborator
Mariko Kanamori
Research: Rural, Agriculture, Suicide, Gender relations, Social Determinants of Health, Social Epidemiology
Her research focuses on mental health issues in rural areas. Before entering graduate school, she worked as a clinical veterinarian for cattle in Hokkaido. She is majoring in social epidemiology because she believes that both cattle and people share a common way of living that depends on the state of society. She would like to contribute to a society where both people and animals can live healthy and happy lives.
Research Student（Research guidance commissioned by the University of Tokyo）
Yuki Arakawa
Research: Social relationships and mental health, Online medical consultation, EBPM
He has been working as a doctor in a hospital since 2011, with a wide range of experience in medicine and surgery, specialising in patient care in the emergency department and intensive care unit. There he was confronted with social issues in the context of patients that could not be changed by medical treatment and went to graduate school to find solutions. He is interested in the study of human connections, especially those related to loneliness. He is now working with local authorities to develop evidence for policies that lead to better health for people.
Research Student（Research guidance commissioned by the University of Tokyo）
Mai Yamaguchi
Research: Women’s health, Low-weight
She is researching socio-environmental factors related to thinness in women.
Research Student（Research guidance commissioned by the University of Tokyo）
Yumiko Kobayashi
Research: Organizational justice, Gender
She is examining the relationship between organizational fairness and the psychological load of workers.
Research Student（Research guidance commissioned by the University of Tokyo）
Kyoka Sasaki
Research: Natural disasters, Human disasters, Mental health
She is interested in the effects of natural and man-made disasters and the new coronavirus pandemic on human health.
Guest Researcher
Yoko Matsuoka
Research: Post-Disaster Relocation, Changes in the Socio-Physical Environment, Mental Health, Social Participation
She is researching associations between changes in the socio-physical environment due to post-disaster relocation and the mental health of older adults living in areas affected by earthquakes.
Guest Researcher
Tomoki Nakaya
Guest Researcher
Yugo Shobugawa
Guest Researcher
Yoshiki Ishikawa
Guest Researcher
Yusuke Sasahara
Guest Researcher
Ibuki Ozawa
Guest Researcher
Masayo Yano
Guest Researcher
Itsuki Osawa
Guest Researcher
Kumi Sugimoto
Guest Researcher
Takuya Yamada
Collaborator
Toshiaki Komura