Research Leadership & Global Engagement
International research development | Academic service & scientific visibility | Global academic engagement
Professor KOOHSARI provides strategic research leadership to the Urban Design Science for Health Lab. His internationally recognised academic record and interdisciplinary vision have shaped a research agenda that addresses global urban challenges through science-based approaches.
International research development
Key leadership and strategic activities include:
• Developing large-scale, interdisciplinary, and international studies across Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and the United States.
• Securing competitive research funding, including grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the Heart Foundation of Australia.
• Establishing replicable research protocols for spatial analysis, health-oriented urban design, and AI-assisted urban health modelling.
• Advancing thematic research areas in parametric urban modelling, spatial epidemiology, and digital health-responsive urban design.
Academic service and scientific visibility
• Editorial roles in international journals, including Landscape & Urban Planning, npj Exercise Medicine & Health, Clinical eHealth, Heart & Mind, and Journal of Architectural & Planning Research.
• Reviewer for major scientific grants across multiple countries.
• Peer reviewer for leading journals in urban studies, public health, geography, and environmental science.
Global academic engagement
• Building research collaborations with leading scholars and laboratories across Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and the United States.
• Disseminating scientific findings through over 80 invited lectures, seminars, and workshops across leading academic and professional settings worldwide.
• Promoting urban design science as a rigorous, interdisciplinary domain relevant to urban governance, digital transformation, and health-supportive city strategies.
This portfolio reflects prolonged leadership in advancing urban design science and a commitment to research that is rigorous, collaborative, and globally relevant.