Dr Itsuki Hamamoto

Researcher at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases

Biography

Dr. Itsuki Hamamoto is a scientist with a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences – Infectious Diseases from Osaka University, Japan. She works at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) in Japan. Her research mainly focuses on influenza and other respiratory diseases, with a particular interest in the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) of IVD and the diagnostic assay development. 

She has extensive experience procuring laboratory supplies, evaluating commercially available IVD products, and conducting routine laboratory-based diagnostics of human viral infections, including emergency responses during influenza and the COVID-19 outbreaks. She has published a number of articles on virus detection methods and rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. She has also provided technical training programs to support laboratory specialists from African and Southeast Asian countries to strengthen their capacity to prevent and respond to public health emergencies.

As part of a national influenza vaccine development project, she has also contributed to the fundamental research on cell-based vaccine development. In addition, she contributed to the development of domestic policies
and guidelines for quality assurance, which describes the quality control methods and procedures for ensuring safe cell-based influenza vaccines based on specific guidance from regulatory authorities.