Welcome to the Department of Radiation Effects Research, NIRS, QST!
Evidence-based regulation of radiation is important for the safe and secure use of radiation. One of the studies required in this regard is to quantitatively evaluate radiation health effects and to elucidate the mechanisms therein. The importance of such research has been publicly recognized, especially in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
The Department has been producing various scientific information on biological effects of radiation using mice and rats. Recently, we are focusing on the difference of radiation effects between children and adults and the influence of lifestyles on radiation effects. We are also studying the mechanism by which radiation increases the risk of cancer and other diseases and how it can be intentionally reduced. In the future, we will further extend these studies to clarify the mechanism by which radiation increases the risk of diseases using cutting-edge technologies such as genomics, stem cell techniques and quantum technology. We will integrate these findings with existing knowledge in epidemiology for more scientifically reliable risk assessment.
Tatsuhiko Imaoka, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Radiation Effects Research
What’s New
- Dec. 2024
- Mr. Suda received the Best Presentation Award at the 4th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Quantum Medical Science Society.
- Oct. 2024
- In collaboration with the Institute for Quantum Life Sciences at QST, the temperature of the rat mammary gland was successfully measured using a fluorescent nanodiamond quantum sensor. LINK, Press release (Japanese only)
- Oct. 2024
- We compared the risk of leukemia mortality in mice exposed to gamma rays or neutrons at various ages, indicating the adulthood as an susceptible age and the neutron RBE to be 2 irrespective of age. LINK
- Oct. 2024
- Dr. Nagata received the Japanese Radiation Research Society Young Investigator Award. LINK
- Sep. 2024
- A review paper published as an output of PLANET WG1 (LINK) received the Japanese Radiation Research Society Terasima Award.
- Sep. 2024
- Dr. Kakinuma (Visiting Researcher, former Director) received the Outstanding Investigator Award of the Japanese Society for Biological Sciences in Space.
- Sep. 2024
- Dr. Nagata, Dr. Imaoka (Director) and colleagues found that luminal progenitor and mature cells are more sensitive to radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks than basal cells in rat mammary tissue. LINK
- Sep. 2024
- Ms. Nishimura, Dr. Imaoka (Director) and colleagues revealed the characteristics of molecular subtypes of rat mammary cancer and their association with radiation and chemical exposure. LINK
- Jul. 2024
- Recent activities of PLANET are summarized and published in Journal of Radiation Research. LINK
- Jul. 2024
- QST Research Assistant Mr. Yamamoto received the Best Young Scientist Presentation Award at the 61th Annual Meeting on Radioisotopes and Radiation Researches.
- Jul. 2024
- "Research Groups", "Staff" pages are updated.
- Jul. 2024
- Dr. Tatsuhiko Imaoka has been appointed as a department director.
- Apr. 2024
- Dr. Suzuki, Dr. Tsuruoka, and Dr. Kakinuma conducted an experiment to reproduce the environment of astronauts in the intestinal tumorigenesis model of ApcMin/+ mice, to clarify the combined effects of simulated microgravity and radiation. LINK
- Apr. 2024
- In a PLANET project, Dr. Imaoka and colleagues conducted a mathematical analysis of the relationship between aging, carcinogenesis, and exposure, revealing that the risk of early cancer death due to exposure differs about 100-fold between humans and mice, as well as the mechanism behind this difference. LINK
- Apr. 2024
- Revision of the website due to reorganization.
- Jan. 2024
- "Career of graduates" page is updated.
