A paper on the application of high-sensitivity detection technology of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater to air has been published in Sci Rep in a joint research project by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima, Shionogi & CO., LTD., and other.

Tomoyo Yoshinaga, Yoshinori Ando, Yumi Sato, Takeru Kishida & Masaaki Kitajima (2025) Development of COPMAN-Air method for high-sensitivity detection of SARS-CoV-2 in air, Scientific Reports, 15, 14340. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-99365-2

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima will be taking part in a panel discussion at the public symposium "Challenge Engineering! -Towards 2050 with 'IKIGAI'-" to be held at Muroran Institute of Technology in the afternoon of May 2. The symposium is hosted by the Computer Science Center of the university and co-hosted by the Science, Technology and Innovation 2050 Committee (STI2050) of the Engineering Academy of Japan, with Project Prof. Kitajima serving as the secretary of STI2050.

公開シンポジウム「挑め、工学！ ―"IKIGAI"ある2050年に向けて―」, May 2, 室蘭工業大学大学会館　多目的ホール.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima and researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences conducted a joint research and made a poster presentation below at the 128th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pediatric Society, held at Port Messe Nagoya from April 18th to 20th.

●太刀川 潤, 羽深理恵, 相澤悠太, 山中崇之, 樋浦誠, 本間丈成, 大久保総一朗, 遠山潤, 塚野真也, 北島正章, 齋藤昭彦 (2025) 新潟市における下水サーベイランスを用いたパレコウイルス-A感染症流行の把握.
●羽深理恵, 太刀川潤, 相澤悠太, 山中崇之, 塚野真也, 大久保総一朗, 樋浦誠, 小林悠, 遠山潤, 本間丈成, 北島正章, 齋藤昭彦 (2025) 新潟市における下水サーベイランスによる小児呼吸器感染症の流行予測.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima responded to an interview with Kyodo News. Then, the Sankei Shimbun and many local newspapers reported the issue as follows:

●感染症を空港の排水でいち早く把握 国際研究、万博中実施へ 東大ら専門家グループ, 産経新聞, Apr 6.
●《大阪・関西万博　EXPO2025》新型コロナ サル痘 インフル　デング熱 空港排水で感染症検知を 開催期間中に国際研究, 上毛新聞, Apr 7.
●空港排水で感染症把握 東大など万博で実施へ, 福井新聞, Apr 7.
●感染症、空港排水で把握　国際研究、万博中実施へ　東大チーム, 山陰中央新報デジタル, Apr 7.
●EXPO2025＝感染症、空港排水で把握 東大チームなど 国際研究、万博中実施へ, 四国新聞, Apr 7.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima appeared in a YouTube video. He talked with the ITTO Gaienmae Festival Team LH members about when he became interested in wastewater research, why he started researching viruses, and the research he began in earnest during his university days.

Japan Wastewater Surveillance Association's newsletter, JWWSA News vol.3, has published a lecture record, a reprinted article, and a meeting summary (PDF) related to Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima.

●[Record] 【第3回講演会】ポストコロナ社会における下水サーベイランスの活用と全国展開に向けて, pp.3-12.
●[Repost] 下水サーベイランスの未来予想図(特集：2050年に向けて大胆予測／月刊下水道2025年1月), pp.13-18.
●[Record] 下水サーベイランスの方法論：知見のアップデート(2025年1月7日技術委員会主催 下水サーベイランス最新技術勉強会要旨), p.23.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima is involved in the organization and preparation of the following upcoming acadeic conferences.

■ IWA-ASPIRE and Water New Zealand Conference & Expo（Sep 20 - Oct 3 @New Zealand）
　Programme Committee
■ IWA 22nd Health-Related Water Microbiology Conference（Watermicro2025, June 15-20 @Netherland）
　Scientific Review Committee

The research results by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima (International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) et al., which claims that it is possible to estimate the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals from urban wastewater surveillance data, were published in the Hokkaido Shimbun and Water and Sewerage Information Plus. These followed a press release issued by the School of Engineering on March 7th.

The 59th Annual Conference of JSWE was held on 17-19th March at Hokkaido University. Project Asst. Prof. Liu Miaomiao gave the following presentation as a presenter, while Project Profs. Hiroyuki Katayama and Masaaki Kitajima gave the following presentations as co-authors of papers. Additionally, Project Prof. Kitajima served as the chair of the session "Antimicrobial Resistance (3)" on the 19th.

●Liu Miaomiao, Imai Masayuki, Angga Sandhyana, Shizuka Matsuyama, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Katayama Hiroyuki, Kitajima Masaaki, "Isolation and characterization of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter spp. from elderly care facility wastewater"

●佐藤晶，松山しずか，内田淳也，北島正章，橋本崇史，加藤隆史，片山浩之 「施設廃水の下水疫学調査に用いる浸漬型吸着担体ガーゼの表面化学修飾の効果」

●小松周生，木村克輝，羽深昭，北島正章 「高感度検出に基づいたMBR におけるウイルス除去性能の評価」

A report written by related researchers on Symposium 2 (PDF) at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the JEMS (Dec 2024, Okayama), where Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima gave a lecture, has been published by the English journal G&E.

The following review paper has been published by Water (an international, peer-reviewed Open Access journal).

Discussions and contributions articles from WBE-related members were published in February 19th's Japan Sewerage Newspapercommemorating the company's 70th anniversary.

●Discussion: "The Future of Water and Sewerage Systems by Academics" Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima

●Contribution: "Future Prospects of Water and Sewerage Systems in the Period of Change"
　 Project Assoc. Prof. Hiroyuki Katayama, Project Assoc. Prof. Ikuro Kasuga

The following paper, co-first authored by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima, has been published by Environ. Int. (Booklet version is published in March)

The following paper related to SDG6 has been published in Sci. Rep. as a joint result with Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima, Prof. Taikan Oki (RECWET Adjunct member/Special Advisor to the President), and others.

In order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in private nursing homes, a joint research project has been launched by RECWET, the School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima), HYUGA PRIMARY CARE Co., Ltd., and AdvanSentinel Inc. (co-funded by Shimadzu Corporation and Shionogi & Co., Ltd.). (TSE PR disclosure)

2nd APIC-ADVA Asia Pacific Summiton Infectious Diseases and Immunization (11-13 Feb, Singapore) was held. On the second day, 12th February (Wed) 15:00–16:00, Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimagave an invited speechat the APIC Educational Symposium on RS Virus management.

Special Seminar about “Frontiers in Wastewater-Based Epidemiology” was held on January 21 (Tue), 2025 at Interdisciplinary Centre for River Basin Environment (ICREuy), University of Yamanashi, and Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaand Dr. Made Sandhyana Angga(JSPS International Research Fellow) spoke at the seminar.

The latest edition of the “Updated Science-Wide Author Databases of Standardized Citation Indicators”, a list of influential scientists in various fields, created by Stanford University and Elsevier, was released on September 17, 2024. This list was compiled based on data from Scopus, analyzing over 5 million researchers worldwide who have published at least five papers across 22 scientific fields and 174 subfields. A composite metric combining several citation indicators was used to evaluate researchers with high citation counts. The top 2% of scientists in each subfield were identified. The analysis was conducted in two categories based on the citation period: “career-long” and “single recent year.” Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimawas selected for both the “career-long” and “single recent year” categories. This is the fourth consecutive year that Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimahas been selected in the “single-year” category, following 2021, 2022, and 2023.

A paper by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaand others on public perceptions and responses to COVIC-19 through the provision of wastewater surveillance information has been available online in IJDRR.

[Publication] A paper evaluating the effectiveness of the microbial concentration and RNA extraction kit, Carbon Prep for Wastewater RNA extraction (Life Magnetics), for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater (first author: Dr. Made Sandhyana Angga, JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow) has been published in Food and Environmental Virology.

The following paper by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaand Prof. Hiroyuki Katayama(Water Quality Control Technologies and Materials Development) has been published by Sci. Total Environ.

An editorial by the Editor-in-Chief, Project. Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaand others have been published in Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

The following paper by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaand others has been published in Environ. Int.

A paper by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima, Project Asst. Prof. Liu Miaomiaoand University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh has been issued by Microbiol. Resour. Announc.

Some of the members of our lab gave oral presentationsat The 14th International Symposium on Southeast Asian Water Environment（SEAWE-14）（Dec. 3-5、Wyndham Grand Bangsar Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia）

The Yomiuri Shimbunpublished an article about the wastewater surveillance, in which Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimawas interviewed.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimahas been selected as "2024 Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers". Using qualitative and quantitative analysis to identify researchers from across the globe whose work holds broad influence, the list is drawn from highly cited papers that rank in the top percentile of citations for field and publication year over the past decade.

Press Releasehas been issued from the School of Engineering (in Japanese)

The following paper by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaand Dr. Anggaet al. was published by Sci. Total Environ. This is the result of joint research between University of Yamanashi, Phenikaa University, Viet Nam, University of Tokyo and Hanoi University of Public Health.

The 61st Environmental Engineering Research Forum, organized by JSCE and Environmental Engineering Committee, will be held on November 26-28, 2024 in Niigata, Japan. Program(PDF)

In the oral session, Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimawill present his paper.
Izuki NAKASO, Akira HAFUKA, Masaaki KITAJIMA, Katsuki KIMURA
DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW-CONCENTRATION VERSION OF THE EPISENS-M METHOD SUITABLE FOR TREATED WASTEWATER AND EVALUATION OF VIRUS REMOVAL PERFORMANCE BY MBR

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimaet al. used a structural topic model to provide an overview of the topics involved in WBE in various research fields and elucidate their characteristics, and published a paper in Results in Chemistry.

A review article by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimawas published in the September issue of Modern Media, an academic information magazine on medicine and public health published in 1955. The articleis available to the public in PDF format. (in Japanese)

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimagave an invited speech at a conference organized by Korea Society of Water and Wastewater.

Project Prof. Hiroyuki Katayamaand Asst. Prof. LIU Miaomiaoattended the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Chinese Association of Microbial Ecology from October 25th to 28th. Prof. Katayama delivered a keynote speech, while Dr. Liu focused on networking and reconnecting with both new and long-standing collaborators. See News from Shandong University, the co-host of the meeting.
In addition to the meeting, they were invited to the School of Environmental Science and Technology at Shandong University, where they participated in academic discussion and Prof. Katayama gave an invited lecture.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima, Prof. Michio Murakami of Osaka University and others analyzed the survey methods for wastewater surveillance necessary to understand the status of COVID-19 infection in regions, and clarified appropriate survey method criteria.

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimahas been introduced as a partner on the INNOVATION NEWSNETWORK, a portal site that posts the latest scientific news from around the world. Tracking viral disease dynamics through wastewater-based epidemiology

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) gave a lecture held simultaneously at the venue and online on Sep 17. YouTube Live is available. (in Japanese)

Knowledge Capital "Cho" School
A course that enriches “life” and “lifestyle” by considering with evidence, season2
Part 3 Wastewater-based Epidemiology - Cutting-edge knowledge for the Osaka/Kansai Expo -
(Translation of the event name, not official)

The following paper by Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based epidemiology) et al. was published by Sci. Total Environ. (Printed version is published on Nov 25).

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimagave a keynote speech at the Japan WasteWater Surveillance Association's 3rd Lecture: "Utilization of Wastewater Surveillance and its nationwaide expansion in a Post-Corona Society" (August 2nd, 9F, East Bldg, TFT Building near Tokyo Big Sight).

An interview article with Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) and his 2 commentary articles were published as follows:

The following paper by Project Asst. Prof. Miaomiao Liuand Project Assoc. Prof. Ikuro Kasuga(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) was published by Sci. Total Environ. (Printed version is published on Nov 1).

Interview articles with Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajimahave been published in multiple media.
The contents include the fact that Wastewater-based Epidemiology is attracting attention due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the increase in inbound tourists, start of wastewater surveillance at international airports, cost effectiveness of the surveillance, future direction of the research and so on.

The following paper by Project Asst. Prof. Miaomiao Liuand Project Prof. Hiroyuki Katayama(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) et al. was published by RSC Applied Polymers (First published on Apr 2). This is the result of joint research between Dept. Chemistry and Biotechnology and Dept. Urban engineering.

Projct Prof. Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) gave following keynote lecture and invited lectures.

School of Engineering has issued a press releaseregarding research conducted by Project Professor Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) with Waseda University, Keio University, Technische Universität München, and others.

The members of International Wastewater-based Epidemiology gave oral/poster presentations at Singapore International Water Week 2024(SIWW 2024) (June 18-22, Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore) as follows:

Project Researcher Dr. VU Duc Canh are involved in managing and preparing for International Young Researchers' Conference(IYRC Spring 2024) (June 8 @UTokyo) as IYRC Coordinator.

The members of International Wastewater-based Epidemiology gave oral presentations at 8th International Society for Food and Environmental Virology (ISFEV) Conference(June 9-14, Shimadzu Tokyo Innovation Plaza, Kawasaki) as follows:

Two papers by Project Professor Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology) have been published through international joint researches.

The School of Engineering, Shimadzu Corporation, and Shionogi & Co., Ltd. have established the " International Wastewater-based Epidemiology" Corporate Sponsored Research Program within RECWET.

The establishment announcement was held at UTokyo on June 5th, and press releases were issued today by the School of Engineering, Shimadzu Corporation, and Shionogi & Co., Ltd.
Press Releasefrom the School of Engineering (Japanese only)
Image: from the School of Engineering website

Project Prof. Masaaki Kitajima(International Wastewater-based Epidemiology Program) gave an invited lecture at ISBER 2024, an international conference on biobanking (Melbourne/virtual, April 11th) and at the sponsored seminarof the 59th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Molecular Medicine (April 13th).

As of April 1st, Project Assoc. Prof. Ikuro KASUGA(RCAST/concurrent) and Project Asst. Prof. Miaomiao LIU(previously project researcher of Dept. Urban Engineering) have been appointed to the "International Wastewater-based Epidemiology" Corporate Sponsored Research Program, RECWET. Member information