Tokyo Women's Medical University

School of Medicine

Respiratory Medicine

Overview

The Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tokyo Women's Medical University established the Respiratory Center together with the Department of Respiratory Surgery in 1990, and has been conducting medical treatment and research in the field of respiratory medicine.
As of April, 2018, under the supervision of Professor and Chairperson Etsuko Tagaya, there are Ren Takeyama, Clinical Professor, Mitsuko Kondo, Associate Professor, one Associate Lecturer, three Assistant Professors, as well as late-stage residents and graduate students.
Major board-certified physicians and specialists include 19 certified physicians, 5 specialists, and 4 advisors from the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine, 9 specialists and 4 advisors from the Japanese Respiratory Society, 4 certified specialists and 2 advisors from the Japanese Society of Allergy, and 1 specialist from the Japanese Society of Respiratory Endoscopy.
Lung cancer is now the leading cause of death in men, and asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are increasing every year. For severe asthma, we administer molecularly targeted drugs such as anti-IgE antibodies, anti-IL-5 antibodies, and bronchial thermoplasty therapy.　In addition, there are many other diseases of the lungs, including infectious diseases, malignant tumors, allergies, and immune disorders. Our Department provides advanced and comprehensive medical care for each disease in close collaboration with respiratory surgery, radiology, anesthesiology, and other departments. In addition, we also focus on improving preventive and management medicine by providing smoking cessation education and asthma classes, as well as building a network for community and home medical care.

Education Details

During the first year, the residents will focus on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of inpatients in the wards, and learn bronchoscopy and other procedures, diagnostic imaging, respiratory function tests, etc. They will also experience presenting at academic conferences. In the second and third years, the students will experience traveling to affiliated hospitals to grow as respiratory physicians, present at conferences in Japan and abroad, and conduct a series of clinical research. In the fourth and fifth years, students return to the university to work on the diagnosis and treatment of patients in the wards and outpatients, aiming to obtain a respiratory specialist certification in the summer of their fifth year. The program has a large number of cases, and students can experience malignant tumors, asthma, COPD, and rare diseases, and can also acquire allergy studies.

Research Details

We have been conducting translational research ranging from basic research using advanced technologies in cell physiology, cell biology, molecular biology, and immunology to clinical research aiming at therapeutic applications of these technologies, and we have achieved some of the best results in Japan and abroad. In addition, as part of post-graduate education, we hold many study groups, case review meetings, abstract reading meetings, and research presentations to train excellent respiratory medicine specialists and provide high-quality medical care to our patients.

　　　　　

Faculty

Etsuko Tagaya
Hideki Katsura
Mitsuko Kondo
Osamitsu Yagi
Ken Arimura

Graduate School

Our Graduate School have achieved one of the best results in Japan and abroad, conducting a wide range of basic research using advanced technologies in cell physiology, cell biology, molecular biology, and immunology, as well as clinical research aimed at therapeutic applications of these technologies.

Related links

Research Achievements Database

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