AYA GOTO
Taro Takemi Professor of the Practice of International Community Health
Aya Goto is Professor of the Practice of International Community Health in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPS), where she also directs the Takemi Program in International Health. Since 2024, her primary appointment has been at HSPH, while maintaining a specially appointed professorship at Fukushima Medical University (FMU), where she has served since 2016 as a professor in both the Center for Integrated Sciences and Humanities and the Graduate School of Medicine.
Dr. Goto earned her MPH in international health from HSPH and her MD and PhD in public health from Yamagata University. Her research interests include reproductive health, parenting support, and health literacy. Dr. Goto's translational research began with a focus on collaborations in Fukushima and Ho Chi Minh City, and continues to include work in these communities while also expanding to other regions. She has worked to build capacity in research and maternal and child health among local healthcare professionals and, since the Fukushima nuclear accident, has closely supported public health nurses in addressing parental concerns about radiation. In recent years, her activities have broadened further to include participatory health projects for children in disaster-prone areas across Asia and Africa. Currently, she aims to bridge Fukushima and the world by organizing an annual course in Fukushima for Harvard graduate students and offering a Japanese-language program on international community health at Harvard for Japanese healthcare professionals.