TOPICS
- Award
- Award-Faculty
- 2024
Project Professor Masaaki Kitajima recieved 5th Japan Research Front Award
On 22nd May 2024, Project Professor Masaaki Kitajima, Laboratory of International Wastewater-based Epidemiology, Research Center for Water Environment Technology, recieved 5th Japan Research Front Award.
Project Professor Masaaki Kitajima (right) receiving the award certificate from Clarivate during the press conference held on May 22
5th Japan Research Front Award
The Research Front Award aims to identify cutting-edge research fields that are expected to achieve significant advancements in the future and to introduce researchers from Japanese institutions who are leading the world in these fields to the broader society. The award selects advanced research areas and awardees based on an analysis of papers that are among the top 1% most frequently cited (highly cited papers) in Clarivate's 22 academic fields. These papers are chosen based on their co-citation with more recently published papers.
About awarded research
The advanced research field identified as a "Research Front" this time is "wastewater-based epidemiology," a discipline that analyzes epidemiological information at the population level based on the measurement of viruses and other substances in wastewater. This field has garnered significant academic and societal attention, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Kitajima, a Project Professor of the Laboratory of International Wastewater-based Epidemiology, has utilized his expertise and technology in environmental virology to achieve numerous pioneering research outcomes globally. From the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he advocated for the usefulness of wastewater-based epidemiology, developed highly sensitive virus detection technologies in wastewater through industry-academia collaboration with Shionogi & Co., Ltd., established techniques for detecting variants, and contributed to infection control by implementing these techniques in municipalities like Sapporo and the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Village. Additionally, he has built models to predict the number of infections based on wastewater data, proposed and demonstrated the concept of a "wastewater banking" as a comprehensive public health information storage method. By balancing academic novelty with social significance, he has pioneered "wastewater-based epidemiology" as a new academic discipline.
Your impression & future plan
I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award. Wastewater-based epidemiology is a crucial research field, not only for combating COVID-19 but also for addressing future emerging infectious threats. The receipt of this award, which objectively demonstrates the pioneering and cutting-edge nature of this research field, will significantly support the advancement of both academic research and its societal implementation in wastewater epidemiology. Motivated by this award, I am committed to continuing my research with the aim of producing globally impactful results and contributing to the development of this field.
Research Center for Water Environment Technology: https://www.recwet.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/index.html