Junko Otani, DDS, MPH, MS, PhD, is Professor in the Graduate School of Human Sciences at Osaka University. She also serves Regional Director of East Asian Center for Academic Initiatives (Shanghai Office) of Osaka University. She obtained her DDS from Osaka University, her MPH in international health and MS in population science from Harvard University and her PhD in social policy and administration from the London School of Economics. She has worked for the World Bank as a health specialist and for the World Health Organization as a medical officer, based mainly in China. Her areas of specialization include international health and population, social development studies, area studies, and research methodology. She has looked at disaster-affected areas of Kobe in Japan, Sichuan in China and New Zealand. She was awarded Royal Society of New Zealand fellowship to conduct research in Christchurch at University of Canterbury in 2013 and Australian Academy of Science fellowship for School of Population and Global Health of University of Melbourne in 2015. She has been on the board of trustee of Japan Association for International Health since 2009, and the Japan-China Sociological Society since 2016 and President for its annual conference in 2017.