Teaching Staff

Yasuko Orba (Professor)

Currently, we are focusing on arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), which are transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks. Our research covers collecting mosquitoes to identify viruses in mosquitoes. Actually, I like to see a beautiful mosquito. In these fieldwork projects, I mainly conduct epidemiological studies of viruses in African. Together with collaborators, I also investigate various viruses in wild animals such as rodents and bats, and arthropods such as mosquitoes to identify and study unknown viruses in addition to known pathogenic viruses. Our Institute IIZC has an arthropod breeding room. We also conduct laboratory experiments on viral infection of mosquitoes using successively bred mosquitoes and research using infected mosquitoes.
In basic research, we are studying the molecular mechanisms of infection and multiplication of mosquito-borne viruses such as flaviviruses in the host and the mechanisms of pathogenesis. In our current major projects, we are conducting research with researchers from various research fields using mouse models infected with encephalitis-causing flaviviruses such as Japanese encephalitis virus and West Nile virus, with the aim of clarifying the mechanisms of virus entry into the brain and encephalitis pathogenesis and finding ways to prevent the onset of the disease. Our goal is to find ways to prevent the onset of encephalitis.

Michihito Sasaki（Lecturer）

I’m working to investigate the molecular mechanism of virus infection and pathogenesis of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, Rabies virus and Rotavirus. 

PhD Student

• Kittiya Intaruck (DC4)
• Takuma Ariizumi (DC3)
• Hiroko Kobayashi (DC3)
• Nijiho Kawaguchi (DC2)
• Chadwick Mears (DC2)

Visiting Fellow

• Akihiko Sato (SHINOGI & CO., LTD.)
• Shinji Kusakabe (SHINOGI & CO., LTD.)
• Kei Konishi (SHINOGI & CO., LTD.)

Technical assistant

• Etsuko Hayashi