1980.03
Medical School, Univ. of Tokyo (UT)
1980.06
3rd. Dept of Internal Med., UT Hospital
1988.08
Researcher, MIT Center for Cancer Research
1999.03
Associate Professor, RCAST, UT
2001.09
Professor, RCAST, UT
2002.04
Professor, Center for Collaborative Research, UT
2006.04
Professor, RCAST, UT
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Research Interests:
We are working to develop systems biology and medicine to understand complex biological systems through a functional genomics approach. High throughput technology and novel algorithms are required for collecting, integrating and visualizing the enormous amount of data on gene expression, protein expression, and protein interactions arising in the wake of the Human Genome Project. Alliance with outside academics and industries will be crucial to the success of the new "systems biology", i.e., understanding biological systems as more than the sum of their parts.
- Systems biology of cancer:
We have explored key molecules involved in carcinogenesis, through global analysis of gene expression, especially liver, lung and stomach cancer as major lethal cancers in Japan. In our 'Cancer Regulome' project, we investigate transcriptional regulation at the chromatin level in a systemic way. Technology development for genomic data acquisition is crucial. Novel analytical methods are being developed for genomic and epigenomic analysis, such as gene copy number analysis, transcription factor binding, and methylation detection.
- Regulatory genomics:
In 2004, we started a new CREST program to understand human genome diversity at both the DNA and RNA levels, not only single nucleotide polymorphisms, but also genome structural variation and allelic variation of gene expression. We aim to use these genome diversity data for personalized medicine.
- Translational research:
Functional genomic approaches are applied to identify novel biomarkers for disease diagnostics and therapeutics.
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