Prof. Reiko Kishi, Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences has honored with the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE)’s prestigious 2021 John Goldsmith Award, on August 26, 2021.

The John Goldsmith Award has been awarded annually by the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) since 1999 to investigators for “sustained and outstanding contributions to the knowledge and practice of environmental epidemiology.” Recipients have typically contributed in a substantive and innovative fashion to the methods and practice of epidemiology over many years. 

Professor Reiko Kishi’s research has focused on the impacts to human health caused by exposure to environmental chemicals during infancy and childhood.

In 2002, she established the Hokkaido Study of Environment and Children’s Health—a prospective birth cohort study of around 20,000 mother-child pairs to investigate the effects of environmental exposure combined with genetic predisposition on development and health during the prenatal period, infancy, and early childhood. Professor Kishi was conferred the ISEE John Goldsmith Award for her life-long efforts and innovative contributions to the development of the field of environmental epidemiology, which have led to sustainable and outstanding contributions to society.

The award ceremony took place online on August 26, during the Virtual 33rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2021), hosted by Columbia University, New York. Professor Kishi was extremely honored to receive the award, and to be the first recipient of the award outside of Europe and the USA.

“I am excited that the new environmental risk assessment methods developed during the Hokkaido Study of Environment and Children’s Health, as well as the results of the Study, have been recognized for their social importance,” she said. “I am very happy because it will lead to the further training of young researchers.”