LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
International Wastewater Epidemiology Lab
Machine-translated · View original
A lab studying wastewater-based epidemiology, which reads the spread of infectious diseases from sewage.
AboutAbout the lab
From wastewater to a society resilient against infectious diseases.
The International Wastewater Epidemiology Lab studies wastewater-based epidemiology, a field that reads the spread of infectious diseases from pathogens such as viruses found in wastewater.
Viruses shed by infected people travel through the sewer system and gather at wastewater treatment plants.
Using this sewer system is expected to make it possible to detect outbreaks of infectious diseases early and to track how epidemics are moving.
The lab is an industry-funded collaborative research course (a corporate-sponsored endowed chair), and conducts joint research with Shionogi & Co., Ltd. and Shimadzu Corporation.
Key terms
- Wastewater-based epidemiology
- A field that examines pathogens in wastewater to understand the status of infectious disease outbreaks in a community and to support public health
- Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
- Bacteria that antimicrobial drugs (antibiotics) no longer work against. This is a major problem worldwide
- Industry-funded collaborative research course
- A course established at a university with funding from companies and other organizations, in which research is carried out jointly with the funding companies
NewsLab news
A master's student won the Best Presentation Award at the international conference ICWPT 2026
A paper revisiting the dose-response model for norovirus was published in Water Research
A paper on the mechanisms by which antimicrobial resistance genes spread was published in Microbial Genomics
Project Assistant Professor Liu won an Excellent Presentation Award at WET2026
Joint research with Osaka University and others announced results on detecting influenza epidemics early from wastewater
ResearchResearch themes
The lab is pioneering wastewater-based epidemiology, a new academic field that examines pathogens such as viruses in wastewater to enable early detection of infectious diseases and to understand how epidemics are spreading. It carries out wastewater-based epidemiology studies in Japan and abroad, aiming to build a society that is resilient against infectious diseases.
*Illustrative imageMonitoring the entry of infectious diseases through wastewater at international airports
At international airports such as Narita and Haneda, the lab collects wastewater from aircraft and from airport terminals and tests it for a wide range of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The goal is to show that infectious diseases brought in from overseas can be detected early through wastewater.
*Illustrative imageInvestigating the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria through wastewater
The lab is developing methods to efficiently determine, from wastewater, how widely antibiotic-resistant bacteria have spread in a community or facility. It also aims to detect, in wastewater, the genes that give rise to resistance before they become a problem in hospitals.
MembersFaculty
The members of the International Wastewater Epidemiology Lab include faculty, researchers, visiting researchers, technical assistants, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- Project ProfessorMasaaki KitajimaPublications ↗
- Project Associate ProfessorRyota GomiPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorLiu MiaomiaoPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to International Wastewater Epidemiology Lab
Urban Sanitary Engineering LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Urban EngineeringEstablishing the microbiological safety of drinking water su…
Water Environment Control LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Urban EngineeringPollution, management, and water cycle of urban water enviro…
Socio-Ecological Systems LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Urban EngineeringOptimization of water treatment and sustainable social syste…
Regional Circular and Symbiotic Systems LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of Urban EngineeringDecarbonized society through resource circulation and energy…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant aerial view” Downtowngal / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Monitoring the entry of infectious diseases through wastewater at international airports: “Palma Airport 06R-24L and Can Pastilla aerial view” Steffen Mokosch / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Investigating the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria through wastewater: “Mycobacterium cosmeticum closeup” Photo Credit: James Gathany Content Providers(s): CDC/ CDC Connects / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Urban Sanitary Engineering Lab): “Kanamachi-water purification plant-Edo river” Mayuno / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Water Environment Control Lab): “Lake Kasumigaura from Kasumigaura City 04” Σ64 / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Socio-Ecological Systems Lab): “Aeration tank activated sludge process STP Bengaluru India” Vraj Acharya, WELL Labs / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Regional Circular and Symbiotic Systems Lab): “Mt karousan 2016” Townphoto / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.