Field photo · DR Congo / El Salvador
Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Metropolitan University
— Reading the world’s shifts in the smallest mutations.
Global infection & health
Bridging the precision of the lab and the dynamism of the field, across virology and parasitology.
Who we are
A pathogen has two faces — the one that stays neglected and unseen, and the one that shakes the whole world as it spreads.
We are drawn to both. Moving between the field in DR Congo and El Salvador and precise laboratory science in Osaka, we work at the frontline of infection.
Global reach
To the frontlines
DR Congo, Nigeria, Kenya, El Salvador — connecting endemic frontlines with Osaka.
Partner institutions
Research
Research
Virology and parasitology — two pillars, one laboratory.
Malaria mother–child cohort
Across three African countries we built mother–child cohorts to study placental malaria and the wider burden of malaria — vertical transmission, severe disease in children, and drug resistance.
DR Congo Nigeria Kenya
Read more
Building a research hub in DR Congo
Under an AMED program, in partnership with INRB (DR Congo), we are building a core hub for infectious-disease research in sub-Saharan Africa — advancing diagnostics, surveillance, and training together.
DR Congo
Read more
Mpox integrated study
Combining a human Clade I cohort with our multi-layered omics platform, we elucidate the molecular basis of protective immunity to inform diagnostics and next-generation vaccines and antibodies.
DR Congo
Read more
Chagas disease: vectors and cardiomyopathy
Nationwide vector surveillance and NGS bloodmeal analysis in El Salvador demonstrate active transmission risk to humans, while cardiomyocyte models dissect the pathology of Chagas cardiomyopathy.
El Salvador
COVID-19 humoral immunity
We comprehensively analyze humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 across infection, vaccination, and hybrid immunity — revealing antibody avidity maturation and epitope breadth, and establishing optimal serological assays.
Japan
Surveillance of undiagnosed infections
Using NGS metagenomics and comprehensive antibody profiling (PhIP-Seq), we search for the pathogens behind undiagnosed infections and build systems to monitor unknown pathogens in endemic regions.
DR Congo
Trypanosome drug discovery
Targeting the alternative oxidase (AOX) — essential to the parasite yet absent in humans — we develop selective ascofuranone-derived inhibitors, bridging molecular science to medicines.
Selected publications
Selected publications
- Virology 2024
Multiple-clone infections of Mpox: insights from a single primary lesion
Kaku N, et al. · CMI Communications 1(3)
- Virology 2023
Antibody avidity maturation following recovery from infection or the booster vaccination grants breadth of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing capacity
Nakagama Y, et al. · J Infect Dis 227(6): 780–787
- Parasitology 2023
The landscape of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a mapping systematic review
Kayiba NK, et al. · Trop Med Health 51: 64
- Parasitology 2025
Natural reservoir of Trypanosoma cruzi found in triatomines targeting humans: nation-wide vector surveillance in El Salvador
Michimuko-Nagahara Y, et al. · JMA J 8(2): 432–443
Full publication lists are available on each member’s researchmap, ORCID and Scopus.
Members
Members
Researchers and graduate students from around the world.
KIDO Yasutoshi
Professor
NAKAGAMA Yu
Associate Professor
KAKU Natsuko
Lecturer
NAKAGAMA Shun
Hospital Lecturer
Tshibangu Kabamba Evariste
Assistant Professor
KAWASHIMA Yuri
Assistant Professor
News
News
- NewsWe launched our new website
- FieldFieldwork conducted in Équateur, DR Congo
- NewsNew members joined the lab
Join our team at the global frontline
We welcome new colleagues to join us at the frontline of research. Please feel free to get in touch.
Contact us