I serve as Professor of Family Medicine, Director of Japanese Family Health Program, and Co-Director of the Michigan Mixed Methods Research and Scholarship Program at the University of Michigan. In addition to being a family/general doctor fluent in Japanese, I have long been interested in the influence of culture on medical decision making and ethics, and have conducted numerous health research projects, and published numerous papers in English and Japanese. My training in medicine, public health, ethics and anthropology naturally led me to take an interest in mixed methods research methodology, a cutting edge paradigm leveraging both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. I serve as Co-Editor, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, and I co-founded and co-direct the University of Michigan Mixed Methods Research and Scholarship Program. In this program we are developing cutting edge procedures in mixed methods research, providing methodology consultations, and conducting workshops nationally and internationally. As a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Social Sciences from September 2016 to January 2017, I will be teaching mixed methods research methodology at Peking University Health Science Center, and conducting a mixed methods research project on cancer communication by cross-culturally adapting an attitudes about cancer communication survey and distributing the survey. Through engagement in teaching research methodology and conducting research on a socially compelling topic, I look forward to serving as a “citizen diplomat” to promote mutual collaboration and understanding between China and the United States.
