Welcome to Kyoto University School of Public Health

Dean, Kyoto University School of Public Health
Yuichi Imanaka, MD, MPH, DrMedSc, PhD

In the changing social environments where we combat COVID-19 and head towards the post-COVID-19 era, we need to reset conventional ways of thought and behavior, re-identify what are really important, and create new processes. Concurrently, the importance of Public Health has been globally reaffirmed during the pandemic. Public Health has been an agent for change in human history.

Public Health is an area where social needs will be inevitably expanding and getting more important in the coming future, particularly in the processes towards sustainable and resilient societies. Kyoto University School of Public Health (KU-SPH) is full of frontier spirits, with worldwide scopes. It covers multiple aspects of health: from molecules, behavior, organizations to social/natural environments, from medical/clinical practice, technology innovation to health systems and policies. It embraces largest faculty members in public health in the nation.

Kyoto University School of Public Health was established in 2000 as the first professional school of public health in Japan, and started the graduate program of Master of Public Health (MPH). A lot of Doctorate holders (PhD – Medical Science or Public Health) were also brought up in this SPH. Besides advancing high-impact research and practice, we have cultivated many new professionals in public health and medicine, who are energetic and active on the front lines of health and medicine. It has also changed scenes of public health training in the nation. Since this SPH started, MPH programs have spread nationwide during the last twenty years, and, so far, 20 graduate schools have set up MPH programs.

KU-SPH embraces such environment as you can enhance yourself and learn from each other so that you can develop your own strength and exert your full potential based on your intention and uniqueness. Valuable human networks will be developed around you through one world across various departments and disciplines. In addition, here are joint projects making great progress through collaboration among industry, government, public/private/voluntary sectors and academia in the field of public health and medicine. Improvement of Health and Health Care is a core value here.

We hope all, who are already affiliated or to be affiliated, will re-recognize and enjoy this precious potential of KU-SPH to make a further leap forward.