Akiko Sato was a member of the Fukushima Global Communication (FGC) Programme research team at UNU-IAS.
She holds a Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of California Los Angeles, and has specialized in behavioral sciences. She also gained urban planning expertise and has engaged in various community-based research projects that have equipped her with interdisciplinary skills to address public health issues. Akiko holds Registered Nurse licenses for both Japan and California (USA). Before joining UNU, she worked in the WHO Country Office in Ethiopia. Akiko is very passionate about contributing to the prevention and management of ill-health as well as the promotion of public well-being, particularly in vulnerable populations, such as children and disaster-affected communities. Her main research areas under the FGC programme are risk perception and communication within Fukushima Prefecture and beyond.