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
- September 2025
- A paper by Visiting Researcher Dr. Kakinuma, Senior Researcher Dr. Shang and colleagues analysing the age- and sex-dependent shortening of mouse lifespan by carbon ion radiation has been published in PLOS ONE. LINK
- August 2025
- An invited review paper on reverse electron transport in mitochondria, resulting from a collaborative research of Group Leader Dr. Wang with the Institute of Modern Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been published in Biology. LINK
- August 2025
- Group Leader Dr. Daino and his team published an invited review paper in Biology examining the characteristics of mutations in cancers caused by radiation exposure. LINK
- August 2025
- A paper by Director Dr. Imaoka examining the diversity of radiation cancer risks between tissues, individuals and animal species has been published as an invited review article in Biology. LINK
- June 2025
- Senior Principal Researcher Dr. Katsube and Group Leader Dr. Wang's team first elucidated that the nutritional environment during fetal and childhood stages contributes to individual differences in radiation sensitivity in a mouse experiment, and the findings has been published in Radiation Research. LINK
- June 2025
- A paper analysing radiation sensitivity induced by an indole derivative, resulting from collaborative research between Dr. Wang's group and the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been published in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. LINK
- May 2025
- Results from collaborative research between Warsaw University of Technology (Poland) and Director Dr. Imaoka, analyzing breast cancer incidence in irradiated rats using a physical phase-transition model, were published in Radiation and Environmental Biophysics. LINK
- May. 2025
- Mr. Hashimoto received the Best Poster Award at the JASTRO.BIO.2025.
- April 2025
- A collaborative research between Nagoya University, Director Dr. Imaoka, and other institutions has revealed reduced ovarian reserve in Brca1 mutant rats and has published the results in Cancer Science. LINK
- April 2025
- Group Leader Dr. Wang and colleagues authored an invited review paper on the relationship between radiation response and high-fat diet in a collaborative study with Chiang Mai University (Thailand), published in Biology. LINK
- February 2025
- A paper analysing the effect of intercellular 'hypercompetition' on the dose rate of radiation-induced carcinogenesis using a mathematical model, resulting from joint research between Kure National College of Technology and Dr. Imaoka's team, is published in Radiation Research. LINK
- Dec. 2024
- Mr. Suda received the Best Presentation Award at the 4th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Quantum Medical Science Society.
- November 2024
- A paper by Principal Technical Staff Ms. Ishikawa and Group Leader Dr. Morioka, which discusses the standardisation of data archives for radiation-irradiated animal experiments, is now published in Radiation Protection Dosimetry. LINK
- 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.
