TEL. 03-3353-8111
〒162-8666 8-1, Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
● In recent years, infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli O157, AIDS, and emerging infectious diseases such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and pandemic H1N1 influenza, have been a major challenge to overcome. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is a laboratory that analyzes the properties of pathogenic microorganisms and the virulence factors they produce, as well as the mechanisms of our body's defense system (including the immune system) against microbial invasion, in order to overcome these infectious diseases. Our goal is to produce original and cutting-edge results through such research and to translate them into clinical practice. We are always eager to support medical students in their studies of immunology and microbiology. The lectures and practical training are designed to make the most advanced topics easy to understand, helping students to gain academic knowledge.
● Our department is responsible for education and research in two related fields. Microbiology focuses on the properties of pathogenic microorganisms (such as fungi, bacteria and viruses) and the mechanisms by which they cause infection and related diseases, while immunology studies the body's defense mechanisms against foreign stimuli. Lectures and practical training for undergraduate education are conducted by all members of the department to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary and sufficient for future practice as a medical professional. In medical education, lectures and practical training on "Living Organisms and Microorganisms" and "Biological Defense and Immunity" are conducted for the second semester of first-year students, based on cooperation with other courses; "Practical Training in Microbiology and Immunology" is conducted for fourth-year students, with more clinically relevant content. In the nursing education, lectures and practical training are conducted for first-year students.
● Our research focuses on the structural properties of microorganisms such as Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp., Escherichia coli and Burkholderia spp., the pathogenesis of these bacteria, and the host immune response to infection. In recent years, we have also been investigating the effects of commensal bacteria in the body. While maintaining the uniqueness and originality of our department, we aim to create new cutting-edge research through abundant joint research with other departments with different specialties, which is the most distinctive feature of our department. We strongly promote translational research with clinical laboratories, and aim to provide feedback to clinical practice by elucidating the etiology of severe infection and as well as inflammatory and metabolic diseases, and developing preventive and therapeutic methods. There are many excellent clinical doctors working at Tokyo Women's Medical University, and our department actively promote collaborative research with them.
Main Research Areas
(1) Bacterial-host interactions
(2) Microbiota in diseases with unknown causes
(3) Bacterial induced autoimmune diseases
(4) Intervention of nutrients in metabolic diseases
(5) Novel pathogens in laboratory animals
Professor and Division head Naoko YANAGISAWA
Associate Professor Toshifumi OSAKA
Researcher Hidehiro UESHIBA
Researcher Yuzuru IIZUKA
Researcher Takashi NISHIDA
Post-graduate education aims to provide students with the latest knowledge and advanced skills, and to develop individuals who can carry out and complete research spontaneously with a strong sense of purpose. In addition to supporting highly original research based on the own ideas of our members, we hope to send out researchers who can be internationally competitive and active through exchanges with researchers outside of Japan. In our postgraduate education we are responsible for part of the postgraduate training in “functional systems” in basic medicine.
Research Achievements Database
〒162-8666
8-1, Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
TEL +81-3-3353-8111