Research Themes

We aim to contribute to global infectious disease control by developing methods that allow for simple and rapid pathogen detection anywhere in the world, primarily through the application of isothermal gene amplification techniques.

We have now established the NTM Research Consortium, aiming to identify susceptibility genes for pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteriosis and bronchiectasis, in collaboration with researchers not only from Japan but also from the United States, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan.

From a clinical perspective, we are studying the immune response to vaccines in dialysis patients. We aim to clarify the unique immune characteristics of dialysis patients and explore ways to reduce their susceptibility to infections. This research is being conducted in collaboration with Keio University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Kitasato University’s Department of Virus Infection Control, and the University of Zurich’s Department of Physiology and Immunology.

We are conducting clinical research on the relationship between HIV drug resistance and treatment, complications, and immune responses in HIV-infected individuals. In addition, we participate in a drug-resistant HIV surveillance network and engage in multi-institutional collaborative research.

Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in 2019, waves of infections caused by its continuously evolving variants have been recurring. Utilizing a biosafety level (BSL) 3 laboratory, we are conducting virological studies on: (1) evaluating the efficacy of new disinfectants in inactivating SARS-CoV-2, and (2) investigating the pathology of SARS-CoV-2.

We are searching for substances that can serve as objective and quantitative biomarkers for evaluating disease activity, which would be useful in determining treatment strategies for mycobacterial diseases.

Using human macrophages and mouse models, we are conducting infection experiments to elucidate the pathophysiology of mycobacterial diseases. We also perform tuberculosis infection experiments in the biosafety level 3 laboratory at Keio University’s Shinanomachi Campus.

Since NTM is resistant to many antibiotics, NTM disease is generally difficult to treat. We are evaluating the efficacy of new and existing antibiotics against NTM to explore effective treatment options for NTM disease.

Our department, in collaboration with the Department of Infection Control at Keio University Hospital and the Health Management Center at Keio University, is studying appropriate infectious disease control measures in educational and medical institutions.

In addition to epidemiological studies on drug resistance using clinical isolates and investigating novel mechanisms of drug resistance, we are working with industry to develop new pathogen diagnostic systems using image analysis technology and AI as part of the “Digital Microbiology” initiative. We are also conducting evaluation studies related to vaccines using clinical testing systems.

We aim to elucidate the pathology of peripheral airway lesions in pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease and bronchiectasis by pathologically evaluating surgically resected lungs in conjunction with molecular biological markers. This includes gene editing studies using primary human airway epithelial cells from various airway regions, as well as incorporating recent techniques such as spatial transcriptomics and single-cell RNA analysis.