Jun Shigemura, MD, PhD

Dr. Jun Shigemura is a psychiatrist and Professor within the Faculty of Health Sciences at Mejiro University in Saitama, Japan. He also holds an Adjunct Professorship in the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

In 1994, Dr. Shigemura earned his M.D. degree from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. From 1999 to 2020, he served at the National Defense Medical College, a medical school affiliated with Japan's Ministry of Defense. Between 2003 and 2005, he served as a visiting researcher at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Dr. Shigemura's specialization is disaster psychiatry and psychological trauma, focusing on the psychosocial consequences of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) disasters. The Japanese people were deeply impacted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE)—a combination of earthquake, tsunami, and the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster—which tragically claimed over 18,000 lives. He led a team of mental healthcare professionals, providing crucial treatment and organizational support to first responders in Fukushima nuclear plant workers and the military. 

Dr. Shigemura participated in a series of studies on nuclear power plant workers (e.g., Shigemura J et al., JAMA, 2012; Hasegawa A et al., Lancet, 2015) and military disaster workers (Nagamine M et al., JAMA Network Open; Saito T et al., British Journal of Psychiatry, 2022). He is the President of the Japanese Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2023-2025), an Editorial Board member of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, and a member of the Traumatic Stress Global Networking Community of CINP (The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology).