News

A paper published last year in Epidemiology by Associate Professor Inoue was selected as the Runner-up of the Rothman Epidemiology Prize (four papers in total) as an epidemiology paper that had an important impact among the papers published by Epidemiology in the same year.

It was recognized because it generalized the front-door formula, which had never been applied to epidemiological studies since it was proposed by Judea Pearl in 1993, into an application form and presented the first example of such an application in the world.

Kyoto University School of Public Health

社会疫学分野　井上浩輔特定准教授のFDF論文がEpidemiology誌におけるRothman Epidemiology Paper Prize 2023のRunner-upとして選出されました。

Inoue, Kosuke, Ritz Beate, Arah Onyebuchi.Causal Effect of Chronic Pain on Mortality Through Opioid Prescriptions: Application of the Front-Door Formula.Epidemiology 33(4):p 572-580, July 2022.

DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001490

https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Fulltext/2022/07000/Causal_Effect_of_Chronic_Pain_on_Mortality_Through.17.aspx

Kara E. Rudolph, Winner of the 2023

https://journals.lww.com/epidem/Citation/9900/Kara_E__Rudolph,_Winner_of_the_2023.136.as

On March 27, International Lectures ” Future Healthy Aging　Communities” and “Career Path in International Organizations” were held at Kyoto University School of Public Health(SPH) with WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO/WPRO) officers and researchers from Brunei and Cambodia as invited lecturers.

“Future of Healthy Aging Communities” introduced the Healthy Aging policies developed by WHO/WPRO and case studies of activities in their countries. And “Career Path in International Organizations” introduced the experiences of working in international organizations to SPH students and staff. In each session, discussion with Professor Kondo was also held, which was a valuable learning opportunity.

Kyoto University School of Public Health Website

Lecture on ” Future Healthy Aging Communities”

Report: Kyoto University School of Public Health International Lecture Future Healthy Ageing Communities Roundtable Discussion

Lecture on “Career Path in International Organizations”

Report: Kyoto University School of Public Health International Lecture Career Path in International Organizations

We visited Nabari City, Mie Prefecture, a leading city in efforts to achieve “Healthy Aging” and “Social Prescribing” in Asia and the Western Pacific region, where the population is rapidly aging. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office and researchers from Cambodia and Brunei participated in the tour. Faculty and students from the Kyoto University School of Public Health(SPH) also participated. The tour was an enjoyable and great learning experience.

Kyoto University School of Public Health Website

Field Visit to Nabari City, Mie Prefecture for Exemplary Activities of Healthy Aging

Report: Field Visit to Nabari City, Mie Prefecture for Exemplary Activities of Healthy Aging

 

 

 

The research group led by Associate Professor Inoue, Professor Susan Athey of Stanford University, and Associate Professor Yusuke Tsugawa of the University of California, Los Angeles, has proposed the potential usefulness of the “high-benefit approach,” a next-generation personalized medicine strategy for hypertension treatment, by applying advanced machine learning models to the treatment of hypertension.

This research established a new concept focusing on individual treatment effects. It demonstrated its usefulness, and it is expected to become a basis for the next generation of personalized medicine applying machine learning.

Kosuke Inoue, Susan Athey, Yusuke Tsugawa (2023). Machine-learning-based high-benefit approach versus conventional high-risk approach in blood pressure management. International Journal of Epidemiology.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyad037

Please click on the following link for the press release and more information.
Press release: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research-news/2023-04-05
Kyoto University School of Public Health: http://sph.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp/news/7016/

The research group led by Associate Professor Inoue and Associate Professor Yusuke Tsugawa of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), using U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data, has found that achieving 8,000 steps per day, even just one or two days a week has a positive impact on health.

Using accelerometer-measured step count information, the study examined the risk of mortality associated with walking more than 8,000 steps per day for 0, 1-2, and 3-7 days. The Findings, those who walked at least 8,000 degrees, even one or two days per week, showed a reduction in mortality risk almost equal to those who regularly walked three or more days per week.

The results of this study suggest that achieving the target number of steps, even one or two days per week, may have a sufficiently positive impact on health.

Kosuke Inoue, Yusuke Tsugawa, Elizabeth Rose Mayeda, Beate Ritz (2023). Association of Daily Step Patterns With Mortality in US Adults. JAMA Network Open, 6(3):e235174.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.5174

Please click on the following link for the press release and more information.

Press release: https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research-news/2023-03-30

Kyoto University School of Public Health: http://sph.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp/news/6979/

 

 

 

 

The large-scale joint research and development project with the Tokyo University of the Arts, etc. (JST Industry-academia Co-creation), in which we have participated since last year, has been adopted for the development phase. Until now, Professor Naoki Kondo has been involved as an R&D collaborator, but from April 2023, Kondo will be in charge of the Evidence Building Section (R&D Subject 5). With the Tokyo University of the Arts at the core, 37 organizations, including art, welfare and medical care, technology, and other specialized institutions, companies, and local governments, will bring together their knowledge and skills to solve social issues and develop “cultural prescribing” to be implemented in communities, aiming to co-create a society for population well-being.

The project will promote “cultural prescribing,” an approach to community development through the promotion of interaction using art, while also applying a variety of digital media. For more information, please see the following link.

Here is a description of the “cultural prescribing” from the press release.

The “cultural prescribing” unique to this center is inspired by “social prescribing.”The latter is an approach that does not prescribe medicine to individual patients but instead seeks to improve health and well-being in the community and society as a whole through the use of human connections and local resources.”Cultural prescribing” is a type of “social prescribing” that utilizes culture and the arts. This center combines art activities with medical care, welfare, and technology, considering the various issues individuals face, social relationships, and the characteristics of community cultural and artistic resources and places. “Cultural prescribing” is a method, approach, or system that allows people in diverse situations to connect loosely with each other, to find a place where they can be themselves, create a unique experience, have fun and be moved, free their minds, and create comfortable communication naturally.

Cultural Prescribing is expected to positively affect individuals in terms of sustained well-being, including increased motivation to be active and a greater sense of well-being, as well as improved health. For the community, it is expected to create a more tolerant and inclusive environment and system.

 

The comments of the 2023 G7 Global Health Task Force, in which Professor Kondo serves as a working group member, were published in LANCET.

Promote global solidarity to advance health-system resilience: proposals for the G7 meetings in Japan.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00690-6/fulltext

The Pandemic Action Network (PAN), JCIE, and the University of Tokyo’s Center for Future Vision Research will co-host the Hiroshima G7 Global Health Task Force: Recommendations for Promoting Global Solidarity Towards a More Resilient Health System.

Date and Time: Wednesday, April 5, 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EST (8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. EST)

Click here for registration

 

A research group including Assistant Professor Inoue, Assistant Professor Tatsuhiko Naito of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine (at the time of the research/now a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine), Professor Yukinori Okada (Team leader, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences Laboratory for Systems Genetics / Professor of Department of Genome Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo), and Lecturer Kenji Oki of Hiroshima University(Department of Molecular and Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Science), has conducted a genome-wide association study of primary aldosteronism, and the results were published in Circulation.

Tatsuhiko Naito, Kosuke Inoue, Kyuto Sonehara, Ryuta Baba, Takaya Kodama, Yu Otagaki, Akira Okada, Kiyotaka Itcho, Kazuhiro Kobuke, Shinji Kishimoto, Kenichi Yamamoto, BioBank Japan, Takayuki Morisaki, Yukihito Higashi, Nobuyuki Hinata, Koji Arihiro, Noboru Hattori, Yukinori Okada, Kenji Oki .Genetic Risk of Primary Aldosteronism and Its Contribution to Hypertension: A Cross-Ancestry Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Study.Circulation,21 February 2023

DOI:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.062349

Click here for more information.

Click here for press release

 

The World Bank’s new book “Silver Opportunity : Building Integrated Services for Older Adults around Primary Health Care” has been published.
Professor. Kondo and Assistant Professor. Sato wrote the chapter on governance and regulation.

You can access the e-version of the book at here.