Sakiko Kanbara

Sakiko Kanbara is a professor at Kobe City College of Nursing in Japan. She has been in Kobe since 1996 and received her BS and MS in Health Science from Kobe University and her Ph.D. from Okayama University, specializing in global health and disaster nursing. She has served as a researcher and practitioner in community care, disaster recovery, and disaster risk reduction in Asia and beyond. She founded EpiNurse, which won the Risk Award at the 2017 UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. In 2018, her hometown in West Japan was severely affected by catastrophic floods, and she worked closely with volunteers, multidisciplinary stakeholders, and local government leaders to support the response and recovery efforts. She served as Chair of the 8th World Society of Disaster Nursing Conference (WSDN2024) held in Kobe, Japan. Her work integrates disaster nursing, primary health care, open governance, and digital transformation to advance human security and community resilience.