About 1/2 of Japanese people develop cancer, and about 1/3 of them are said to die from cancer, and overcoming cancer is a human task. Especially, colon cancer is increasing in Japan. In order to improve the prognosis of colorectal cancer, it is necessary to clarify the detailed mechanism of onset and malignancy of colorectal cancer and to identify new therapeutic targets. I am focusing on cancer stem cells as a target for that purpose. We aim to clarify the role of protein phosphatases in the control mechanism of cancer stem cells and to develop novel therapeutic strategies for colon cancer.

In veterinary clinical practice, neoplastic diseases are important which is one of the leading causes of death. Furthermore, it is known that spontaneous tumors in companion animals which share a living environment with humans exhibit many characteristics in common with human tumors, and research on small animal tumor has the possibility to contribute to the medical field. However, biological characteristics of small animal tumor are largely unknown, and biological analyses to clarify the metabolic changes and gene and protein expression characteristic of tumors, as well as research for novel treatments, are under way. My research aims to analyze the biological characteristics of small animal tumors and explore novel therapeutic strategies such as immunotherapy.

Tumors in companion animals (e.g., dogs and cats) have been increased with the advances in veterinary medicine, reaching to the top cause of death. To overcome it, we need to understand their pathology, i.e., why they occur and how they progress. Currently, I am studying the mechanisms of tumor progression in various companion animal cancers, mainly focusing on canine mammary gland tumors or urothelial cancers, with molecular biological methods as well as state-of-art technology like comprehensive genetic analysis (e.g., microarray, RNA-seq, exome analysis, whole genome analysis), single-cell RNA-seq, or spatial transcriptomics. Also, I am working on the development of deep-learning-based artifical intelligence models with my expertise on bioinformatics to help diagnostic radiology.

Veterinary pathology is the study of the causes of animal diseases and the study of their mechanisms. The results revealed by veterinary pathology are returned to clinical practice to help diagnose and treat animal diseases. Although our research targets all kinds of animals other than humans, we also contribute to the human medicine through basic research using laboratory animals.
I have experience in pathological diagnosis in a variety of animals, including companion animals, industrial animals, laboratory animals, wild animals, exotic animals, zoo and aquarium animals, fish, and invertebrates. I aim to identify issues from spontaneous diseases seen in various animals and to conduct research that can be fed back to clinical practice. At the same time, I will develop basic research using experimental pathological methods.

There are many disease for which the mechanism has not been elucidated yet and there are not cure. In paticular, the treatment of heart diseases and kidney diseases which are common at elderly animals, are often “care”, not “cure”. I am currently conducting researches on the mechanism of these deseases (e.g. moleculer, signaling, genetic etc…) for new “cure” treatment methods.
Furthermore, I concentrate my efforts on developing method of veterinary education and postgraduate education.

Chronic exposure to psychological stress leads to increased levels of hormones and cytokines, including glucocorticoids, in the blood or brain tissue. These substances may be involved in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders such as depression. To study the chronic effects of glucocorticoids on the nervous system, we are creating animal models of depression to identify useful targets for the treatment of depression. Steroid hormones are also known to protect nerve cells (neuroprotection) and I am investigating how this action is altered in the pathogenesis of depression and whether it can be used to develop treatments.

Regenerative medicine is attracting as much attention in the veterinary medicine field as in the human medicine field. Research in the veterinary medicine is also expected to be returned to the human medicine. Severe spinal cord injuries in small animal clinical practice often result in animals that cannot walk or stand on their own even after treatment, and there is a need to develop new treatment for spinal cord injuries. In this laboratory, we are conducting research on the development of spinal cord regeneration therapies using stem cells that can be isolated from living tissue and various cytokines. We are also researching the effectiveness and efficacy of rehabilitation as well as the development of new treatment methods by further elucidating the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury and studying gait analysis of spinal cord injured animals.

In Japan, average lifespan has grown significantly, but healthy lifespan has not. This indicates a substantial population of elderly individuals requiring long-term care. Musculoskeletal disorders (e.g. osteoporosis and sarcopenia) are prominent causes of needing care. In these conditions, decreased mobility leads to an increased risk of falls and fractures. Prolonged immobility during treatment exacerbates the decline in mobility. Extended periods of immobility often result in a high incidence of bedridden, which can trigger the onset of dementia. Therefore, addressing musculoskeletal disorders is crucial not only for reducing daily burdens but also for preventing the cascade progression to falls, fractures, bedridden status, and dementia.
While exercise is effective in maintaining musculoskeletal health, there are concerns about traumatic injury by engaging in training, potentially leading to further decline in mobility. Drug therapy holds promise as a treatment option, and tremendous efforts have been made for developing novel drugs; however, the creation of effective therapeutic drugs has yet to be achieved.
This study aims to explore compounds that activate cells composing bones and muscles, with the ultimate goal of creating innovative therapeutic drugs for musculoskeletal disorders.

I am interested in finding ways to make the acquisition of English and other foreign languages easier for Japanese learners. Therefore, my research focuses on acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical structures, and effective methods of education, including extensive reading and content-based instruction.

The cardiac synchronicity attracted attention because in human medicine prolongation of QRS duration is an independent prognostic factor of heart failure patients. It is believed that this is due to delayed electrical excitement of the ventricle, resulting in inefficient myocardial movement, which is supported by the benefical effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy. However, as a problem of cardiac resynchronization therapy, it is mentioned that there are many cases called non-responders. One of the methods for detecting this non-responder is mechanical dyssynchrony assessed by echocardiography. Dogs have electrical conduction systems similar to humans, and are often used as dyssynchronous model animals. I suspect that mechanical dyssynchrony assessed by echocardiography in dogs may be a factor that worsens the prognosis of heart disease? We are conducting research using clinical cases and model animals.

Reproductive success is an important factor directly related to management of domestic animal farms, and its improvement needs multi-approach from various directions, such as reproductive technique, hygiene management, feed,etc. From now, I would like to make studies aimed to solve the reproductive problems in the field, not only with cow ,but with small ruminants（goat, sheep, deer）and Japanese local horse.

Liife expectancy is getting longer in developed countries, which result in progressive increase in the number of elderly individuals. In parallel, the number of patients with neurodegenerative diseases that cannot yet be cured or significantly slowed, such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is increasing. The cytoplasmic aggregation and accumulation of the nuclear protein TAR DNA-binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) is a hallmark of FTD and ALS. TDP-43 action in the nucleus is essential for cellular homeostasis, and TDP-43 aggregation in the cytoplasm is toxic to cells. These findings indicate that TDP-43 accumulation in the cytoplasm mediates development of FTD and ALS. Notably, TDP-43 pathology in the affected region spread over brain and spinal cord simlar to prion diseases. However, the mechanism for cell-to-cell spreading of TDP-43 pathology has been unknown. We previously showed that macroautophagy, a cellular degradation system, suppress aggregate-prone TDP-43 accumulation. Thus, we examine whether dysregulation of macroautophagy develops TDP-43 pathology. For cure of neurodegenerative diseases such as FTD and ALS through suppression of TDP-43 pathology, we are working on fundamental reserach.

In general, tooth morphology has been used to identify mammalian fossils. Some groups of primates have very similar tooth morphology, and other external morphologies are also hard to use for identification. To overcome this issue, we are attempting to use the morphology of the calcaneus and astragalus, which have been used to classify higher taxa traditionally, to identify primates and their fossils.
We are also conducting the comparative anatomy of various animals, such as whether the unique blood vessels of specialized mammals, e.g.) cetaceans, are homologous which arteries of other mammals.

I am studying the effects of radiation therapy in veterinary medicine. We are also investigating the possibility of using sensors to detect animal behavior and applying this to clinical practice.

Vision is an essential sensory function for both humans and animals, playing a crucial role in daily life and closely related to quality of life. Uveitis is a disease characterized by inflammation of the uveal tract within the eye. Progression of this condition can result in visual impairment or blindness. In canines, uveitis is recognized as a significant cause of vision loss, emphasizing the importance of early detection and appropriate treatment.
My research primarily focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of uveitis, with the aim of identifying and evaluating novel therapeutic candidates. The anti-inflammatory properties of diverse chemical compounds are evaluated using research models meticulously designed with future clinical applications in mind.
The objective these studies are threefold: to establish new therapeutic strategies for uveitis; to protect visual function; and to contribute to the improvement of patients’ wuqlity of life.

To protect from viruses, animals including humans have acquired various innate immunity. However, viruses have also gotten the abilities to evade the host immune responses in order to efficiently propagate.
In the relation between viruses and host immune responses, I focus on the “programmed cell death”, which is the cell suicide to inhibit the infection to other cells, and “stress granule”, which is recently identified as the new host immune response. In the future, I’d like to investigate emerging infectious disease viruses to elucidate the viral survival-strategy against the host.

Breast tumor cells have various differentiation states, and it has been reported that clinical malignancy and prognosis vary depending on the differentiation stage. Therefore, it is very important to know the differentiation status of mammary tumors, but the mechanisms of tumor differentiation are still largely unknown. This research focuses on the function of type Ⅵ collagen in mammary tumor cell differentiation, mainly using canine mammary tumors. Many canine mammary gland tumors have luminal epithelial progenitor cell characteristics, and it is considered important to understand the differentiation mechanism of this characteristic. I am currently conducting histological and molecular biological research on the differentiation mechanism of breast tumors and related tissue morphology, focusing on various differentiation factors.

My research goal is to identify the impact of antimicrobial use in animals (farm animals & small animals) to the human population using various epidemiological methods, ranging from quantitative to molecular techniques. With the development of the sequencing technology, we will look into the whole-genome of the bacteria and microbiome derived from diverse animals and the environment. My other research interests are in developing epidemiologic data visualization and bacterial evolution analysis.
Image: Showing the prevalence of　antibiotic resistant Salmonella in cattle after the treatment with ceftiofur and chlortetracycline

The α₂-adrenoceptor agonist and opioid analgesic are useful adjunctive drugs for surgical anesthesia due to their potent analgesic properties through acting on neurons intrinsic to the spinal cord, as well as on axon terminals arising from dorsal root ganglia or from descending modulatory pathways. Their combination is known to be potentially beneficial in enhancing analgesic utility via synergistic interaction mainly at the spinal cord mediated by either intercellular or intracellular mechanisms. I am focusing on dexmedetomidine, an α₂-adrenoceptor agonist that its perioperative application is increasingly expanding in human and veterinary medicine in recent years. I am currently conducting research on interactions between dexmedetomidine and opioid on analgesic effects, as well as hemodynamics and fluid homeostasis including renal function and endocrine system, in companion animals.

Typical gallbladder diseases in dogs include biliary sludge, gallbladder mucocele, and cholelithiasis, but the pathophysiology remains unclear. I am investigating safer treatment methods by clarifying the detailed pathophysiology of canine gallbladder disease.
In addition, the progress of diagnostic imaging technology in veterinary medicine is remarkable, and I am also working on the application of these data to surgical anatomy (vascular anatomy, etc.), and using these, considering a more safer surgical methods.