Mayumi Kako

Prof. Mayumi Kako works as an Associate Professor at the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Division of Nursing Science (International Disaster Nursing), Hiroshima University, Japan. She received her first nursing qualification from Kobe City College of Nursing in Japan. After working at several departments in Nishi Kobe Medical Centre in Kobe, Prof. Kako obtained her postgraduate qualifications from Flinders University, Australia.

While teaching and researching, she revisited her volunteer experience after the 1995 Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in Kobe and developed her research interest in disaster health and nursing. She is especially interested in answering the question of “How can We Create a Resilient Society with an Aging Population?” Prof. Kako worked at WHO Kobe Centre in 2014-15 to support preparing the public forums held at the Third UN World Conference for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Her current research has been focused on the best practices of evacuation center management, as well as the health status (including psychosocial aspects) of seniors who are in transition from temporary to permanent housing in a community. She is also a member of the Disaster Resilience Centre, a course program associate for the Phoenix Leader Program at Hiroshima University.