Members

Kaori Muto

Her original background is sociology of medicine and family. Her research interests are ethical, legal and social implication of medical genomics and stem cell research. She has worked with advocacy groups of rare diseases such as Familial Amioloid Polineuropathy and Huntington's Disease. She also explores living liver donations and family values in Japan. She serves as a Director of the Office of Research Ethics at the IMSUT.

【Education】

Ph.D. International Community Health, Graduate School of International Health, The University of Tokyo (2002)
M.A. Division of Humanities, Keio University (1995)
B.A. Department of Humanities and Social Science, Keio University (1993)

【Professional Employment】

Professor, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2013 )
Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2007 )
Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, Shinshu University (2002- 2007)
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Community Health, Brown University (2000-2002)
Research Associate, Health Care Science Institute (1997- 2000)

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Yusuke Inoue

Yusuke Inoue's research examines theoretical and empirical studies of Japan's regulatory bioethics and bio-law, based on comparative policy perspectives. He received the Encouragement Prize for Young Researchers from the Japan Association for Bioethics in 2006.

【Education】

Ph.D. Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University (2009)
M.P.H School of Public Health, Kyoto University (2003)
B.A. Division of Society and Behavioral Studies, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University (2001)

【Professional Employment】

Research Associate, Kyoto University Hospital (2004)
Research Fellow, Center of Life Science and Society (2005- 2007)
Assistant Professor, The University of Tokyo Hospital (2008)
Project Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Medicine The University of Tokyo (2009)
Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2010 )
Guest researcher, Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB), Uppsala University （2012.10～2013）

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Izen Ri

Her background is in medical sociology and bioethics. Her main interests include patient and family communication related to various kinds of medicine and medical investigation. She has participated in social science research into assisted reproductive technology (donor-conceived children), birth cohort studies, and hereditary diseases. Currently, she investigates the impact on our society of advances in genome analysis, ethical issues in research development of early-prediction and preventive interventions, as well as efforts to reflect the perspectives of patients and the public.

【Education】

Ph.D. Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo (2020)
M.A. Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo (2016)
B.A. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo (2014)

【Professional Emplyment】

Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2021- present)
Project Research Fellow, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2019-2020)
Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (2016-2019)

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Akiko Nagai

She majored in Psychology at university, and she studied public health and epidemiology in graduate school. She studied specifically public attitudes toward genetic testing. She is also interested in science communication.

【Education】

Ph.D. - Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering University of Yamanashi (2009)

【Professional Emplyment】

Research Resident, Imperial Gift Foundation Boshi-Aiiku-Kai (2009 -2012)
Research Fellow, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2012 -)

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Yukitaka Kiya

Yukitaka Kiya has studied the experiences of patients and carriers of chronic illness and hereditary disease. In particular, he examined issues such as genetic risk, the disclosure caused, and the risk it poses for the next generation. In addition to continuing his previous research, he is interested in the development of medical research and policy.

【Education】

M.A. Graduate School of Sociology, Hosei University
B.A. Department of International Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, Dokkyo University

【Employment】

Project Research Fellow, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (2019 - present)

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Saori Watanabe

Saori Watanabe is a sociologist specializing in research on Rare Diseases and Medicine. The title of her Ph.D. thesis is "A Study on Rare Diseases Policy in Japan: Public Expenditure Medical Care by a Diseases-Category-Based Model." She has been pursuing a historical and sociological analysis of rare diseases policy in post-war Japan and other countries.
Currently, she also conducts qualitative and quantitative surveys on ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI ) of rare diseases: one on patient involvement in biomedical research based on genetic citizenship and the other on SES (socio-economic status) of patients with rare diseases.

【Education】

Ph.D. – Sociology, Meiji Gakuin University (2018)

【Employment】

2021.4–Present: Project Research Fellow, Department of Public Policy, The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo
2018.4–2021.3: Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (PD), RCAST, The University of Tokyo
2015.4-2018.3: Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (DC1), Meiji Gakuin University

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Junko Kameyama

She has been involved in the joint research and development of medical image recognition using deep learning, a field of machine learning in artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, she is also involved in research on issues that may arise in the introduction and utilization of AI in medicine and their solutions; her research style is to pursue both development and implementation. In graduate school, her interest in international labor migration in the welfare field led her to continue her research activities on how to build education within nursing care in Japan. She has taken a somewhat unusual route, crossing over into a completely different field with "human interests" at the core.

【Biography】

M.S. in Frontier Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 2018. 3-year Ph.D. in Human Care Science, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 2021. M.S., Ph.D. in "Human Care Science." After working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tsukuba's Faculty of Medicine and as a research fellow with the same faculty, I assumed my current position in April 2022.

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Kimie Takeuchi

She aims to provide a pleasant working atmosphere to support others as they create effective research.

Yoko Kanbara

She has developed interests in genetic counseling and genomic medicine through her work at the biobank. She constantly seeks ways to contribute to personnel development in the field of genomic medicine.

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Natsuko Nishimura

She is in charge of office work. She provides support so that everyone working at this laboratory can efficiently and comfortably spend their time.

【favorite things】

Cats, Watching soccer, Hawaii

Junichi Kawata

Junichi Kawata is a medical sociologist researching cancer survivorship. He has been conducting research on the issues of life after cancer and the identities constructed while living with cancer. He is the vice president of the Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patient’s Association and is interested in the social interaction between medical research and policy as well as the patients who participate in it.

【Education】

Mh.Sc., Human science, Taisho University.
Bh.Sc., Human Life and Environment Studies, Taisho University.

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Hiroshi Iida

He is conducting research on ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that arise from the spread of genetic information in society due to the progress of genomic medicine, with a particular focus on the fields of life insurance and labor. He is an aged student and endeavors to make his 28 years of business experience useful to his research.

【Education】

Master (Interdisciplinary Information), Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo (2019)

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Kayo Takashima

While working as a nurse, she developed an interest in studying bioethics and subsequently obtained a B.A. in Philosophy from Keio University and an LL.M. in Medical Law and Ethics from Kent University, UK. Since then, she has worked for a contract research organization in the UK and the universities in Japan. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences at the University of Tokyo and is also working as a full-time employee. Her main research interests are ethical issues surrounding cutting-edge first-in-human trials using a stem cell clinical trial as a case study.

【Hobbies】

Strolling (including straying), watching movies (in mini theatres)

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Mayumi Kusunose

Mayumi Kusunose is a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo. Prior to entering the doctoral program, her research focused on the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) relevant to regenerative medicine, which motivated her to pursue the study of research ethics. Her current research interests focus on the ELSI of Data Science and Benefit Sharing. She is also an ethicist and provides clinical and research ethics consultation in Japan.

【Education】

Ph.D. student, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)
M.A in Bioethics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA)
M.A. in Humanities and Social Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kochi University (Kochi, Japan)
B.A. Integrated Science program, Department of Education, Kochi University (Kochi, Japan)

【Professional Employment】

2019–present: Senior Technical Scientist, Center for Integrative
Medical Sciences, RIKEN (Yokohama, Japan)
2017–2019: Senior Technical Scientist, Cluster for Science
Technology and Innovation Hub, RIKEN (Yokohama, Japan)
2013–2017: Project Researcher, Department of Public Policy, The
Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)

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Aki Kitabayashi

After finishing her master’s program at the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, She has been employed in pharmaceutical administration.
During her doctoral studies, She will examine how to collect and provide pharmaceutical information from the viewpoint of patients/citizens.

【Hobbies】

Travel, Watching movies/stage dramas, Reading books

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Momoko Sato

Momoko Sato graduated in Interdisciplinary Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences Senior Division, at the University of Tokyo in 2015, and received her master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Information Studies from the same university in 2017. Her main research interest is ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) of genomic research on ethnic minorities.

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Kaori Kawai

Her research focuses on genetic risk as well as marriage and childbearing decisions. For her master's thesis, She conducted a qualitative study on individuals with Huntington's disease, an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, and their supportive health care providers.

【Biography】

Graduated from Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Faculty of Foreign Languages.
M.A. (Interdisciplinary Information Studies), Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo.
Present: Enrolled in the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo.

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Ryoko Matsuyama

2022: B.A. in International Liberal Studies at the School of International Liberal Studies, Waseda University
Present: Enrolled in a Master’s Program at the Biomedical Innovation Policy Group, Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo

She has enrolled in a master’s program at Muto Lab this year, and being a part of this lab has been an exciting and enriching experience. She endeavors to remain fully engaged in her research and has a fulfilling graduate student life.