Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo Department of
Integrated Biosciences

My research activities to date have mainly focused on parasite/nematode genomes. Among the achievements are the first decoding of nematode’s genome in Japan, and the discovery and comparative genome analysis of C. elegans sister species. Currently, I am particularly interested in the study of parasitic nematodes (parasites). Parasites have evolved in a remarkable way to adapt to the special environment within the host body. In the case of mammalian host parasites, the host body is an extremely specialised environment compared to the outside world, with a constant temperature, rich nutrition and immune attack from the host, and the parasites that have adapted to that environment can be called the most neighbouring 'extreme environment organisms'. My research aims to understand the parasitic mechanisms of such fascinating parasites and their specialised abilities from a systems biology perspective by integrating a variety of data.

Another major focus of my research is genome evolution analysis using closely related species of the model organism C. elegans nematode. In particular, I am trying to understand how transposons (genes that move around) aid and regulate genome evolution using C. elegans and its close relatives.

The members of the laboratory are roughly 50-50 split between those who focus on large-scale data analysis (bioinformatics, Dry-lab) and those who focus on biological experiments (Wet-lab). By conducting research through mutual communication and study groups, lab members aim to develop the knowledge and skills to understand both Dry and Wet.