In terms of education, we are in charge of lectures and practical training in hygiene, social medicine, and epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Nursing. As for research, I am conducting epidemiological research on the effects of environmental factors (including psychosocial factors) on health, and on the biological effects and mechanisms of trace elements such as toxic metals. We are conducting research together with many people from other universities and research institutes in Japan and abroad.
Epidemiology
Epidemiological research applies the theory of statistics to express the characteristics and conditions of a population in numerical form to reveal underlying regularities and trends and to make various inferences. According to Shunichi Yamamoto (1983), it is defined as “the science of finding laws concerning the distribution of health events in human populations.
Epidemiology is an important method in hygiene and public health, and is the subject of study in any process leading to the development, progression, and termination of diseases such as infectious diseases and chronic diseases. While clinical medicine focuses on individual patients, epidemiology and other social medicine focus on specific populations or entire communities.
There are two main categories of epidemiological methods: descriptive epidemiology and analytic epidemiology. Analytic epidemiology examines disease patterns in detail and identifies risk factors and protective factors. This includes cross-sectional studies, patient/control studies, and cohort studies. In addition, intervention studies test how an intervention affects the risk of a disease. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are primarily used for this.
The effects of environmental factors (physical, chemical, biological, and social) on living organisms are clarified for the prevention and treatment of diseases.
The aim of this research is to clarify the effects of environmental factors (physical, chemical, biological, and social) on the body and to use this information to prevent and treat disease. We are particularly interested in the effects of trace elements on the body.
Trace elements are essential for life and perform a wide variety of functions in the body, such as activating enzymes and hormones, maintaining immune function, and forming bones and blood. Deficiency can therefore lead to problems such as growth disorders and impaired immune function. On the other hand, some elements can have adverse health effects, i.e., toxicity, when ingested in excess of appropriate amounts.
Environmental medicine in the field of trace elements involves assessing human exposure to trace elements from food, water, and soil and analyzing their effects. It also involves determining the mechanisms of diseases that may be caused by trace element deficiencies or excesses and gaining insight into how to prevent or treat them.
Access
7F North, Building 7, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan TEL: 03-5802-1047
Get off at “Ochanomizu” station on JR line (Ochanomizu Exit) ・・・・・・・・・・・ 7-minute walk
Tokyo Metro (Marunouchi Line) “Ochanomizu” Station (Ochanomizu Exit) ・・・・・・・・・ 7-minute walk
Tokyo Metro (Chiyoda Line) “Shin-ochanomizu” station alighting (B1 exit) – 9 minutes walk
Educational Goals
In cooperation with other social medicine courses, our goal is to help students learn how to scientifically evaluate and respond to the impact of social life, work, and the environment on people’s health from the perspective of a medical professional. The lectures and practical training we provide are only the beginning of this discipline. We hope that students will use these lectures as a guide to further their own learning. In graduate school, we will actively help you to establish yourself as a researcher by practicing epidemiological methods or environmental medical evaluation according to your own theme.
Research Goals
The Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health conducts concurrent research in the fields of epidemiology and environmental medicine. We conduct interdisciplinary and international research, focusing on epidemiological studies of human populations, in collaboration with other departments within the university and with external institutions. The main topics of our current research are as follows
- Exposure of pregnant women to environmental factors and their fetal effects
- Mental health assessment and measures in the workplace
- Use of Community Resources in Early Intervention of Mental Illness
- Epidemiology of risk factors for developmental disorders
- Biological effects of trace elements and their mechanisms
- Others