Smooth muscle cells are major components of the organ walls of organs, such as artery, gastrointestinal tract, bladder and trachea. Smooth muscle cell motility is highly regulated by nerve and hormonal stimuli. Accumulating lines of evidence suggest that impaired smooth muscle motility is involved in a variety of diseases, such as hypertension, digestive dysfunction, asthma, and dysuria. To elucidate the molecular basis of smooth muscle diseases, and to develop their effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, we have been studying the mechanisms that regulate smooth muscle motor function. Meanwhile, we have discovered a protein that regulates smooth muscle contractile function and have elucidated the underlying mechanism by which the protein mediates regulation of smooth muscle motility. We now study the signals in smooth muscle disease.
In parallel with our research on smooth muscle disease, we are assisting in the development of devices and products to improve the quality of life of animals, including pets, and their owners through collaborative research.

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.

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.

Pathology is the study to investigate the causes and mechanisms of wide variety of diseases.
My activities involve;
■Diagnostic pathology of various animal species especially companion animals.
■”Cosmetic autopsy”: this is an animal-owner-friendly procedure while maintaining scientific/medical robustness.
■Establishment of veterinary forensic science in Japan.
■International cooperation: I used to work in Laos (in Southeast Asia) for 3 years as JICA volunteer and in US for 3 years as veterinary pathology resident at Purdue University (in Indiana). Living abroad is always fun and challenging!
■Development of new career path for veterinary students.

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.

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.

When injection substances such as anesthetics to experimental animals, they should be pharmaceutical or veterinary grade or the Japanese Pharmacopoeia products, and scientific justification is required for the use of non-pharmaceutical grade compounds. Pentobarbital sodium has been used as an anesthetic for small laboratory rodents because of its rapid on set of effect, rapid loss of consciousness, and low cost compared to other anesthetics. However, this anesthetic is no longer marketed, and it has become necessary to find an alternative anesthetic to pentobarbital sodium. In this study, we will devise new anesthetic methods by combining anesthetics, sedatives, and analgesics that are currently manufactured and marketed as drugs.

My research interests are in Faculty Development (FD) and Staff Development (SD) in higher education. Until now I am engaged in development of textbooks for FD such as “Active Learning” and “Course Design”. My activity is not a discovery of new knowledge, but an integration of existing knowledge on teaching practice. Recently, I have been interested in development of practical approaches for academic advising.

To provide safer anesthesia for animals, I am studying anesthesia-related techniques and nursing interventions that veterinary nurses for companion animals should implement during the peri-anesthetic period (including before, during, and after anesthesia).
Among these, I have investigated focusing on the management of body temperature during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations, which is said to pose many problems even in human medicine.
Also, I am actively researching nursing interventions that can support animals to stay as calm and comfortable as possible in veterinary hospitals.

My research focus on practice of Capacity Development for student’s leadership development and professional development of Faculty and staff at university. I was organized leadership development program and system at “University Network for Global Leadership Development in West Japan” that grants by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in JAPAN.
And I have collaborated project with many universities approach to administration and curriculum management by supervision and lecture.
In these days, I expand of my research fields on Management of company and Government. And I am carry out research Capacity Development organization members (student, Faculty, staff, officer and more) at empirical research methods that utilized university resources.

The overall purpose of my study is to examine the syntheses, structures, and electronic structures of unique complexes containing commodity organic molecules. The concrete target is finding novel complexes out of the combination of commodity organic molecules and commodity metal ions in the periodic table, preparing the crystals (powder or single crystal), determing the X-ray structures, calculating the electronic structures by first principle, and measuring the physical properties (spectroscopic property etc.).

The purpose of my study is to clarify metamorhic P-T conditons, supply system of terrigenous clastics, tectonic erosion process and so on from rocks related to ancient subduction and collsion zones, based on field geology, petrology and geochronology. I have worked on the researches with external reserchers.

(1)I have been conducting research on Virginia Woolf, who is one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. I have been studying her representative works from the viewpoint of psychoanalysis, especially Carl Gustav Jung’s analytical psychology. In addition, my recent research interests include history, society and culture described in her works.
(2)I am interested in English language education. I have been working on the use of films (including anime), graded readers and literary works in EFL classrooms. My research focuses on students’ motivation in language learning.

Our laboratory has developed molecular and crystal structure models made from inexpensive and readily available materials, including cardboard, electronic components, and LEGO blocks.

In statistical inference, testing for normality is one of the most fundamental problems traditionally. The below left figure is the probability density function of the normal distribution. We have obtained a grahical method of testing for multivariate normality based on the pricipal component score and an approximate joint distribution of sample skewness and kurtosis. We illustrate our method for Fisher’s iris data in the below right figure.

In this globalized world, English is crucial as international language. Students majoirng in science and engineering field expecially need to learn English related to their major and future career actively.
Therefore, I study and practice Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) class, which aims to let students visualize necessary English in their own major or future career, caltivate their cognitive skills, and raise their motivation. I also research effective Egnlish instruction that science and engineering students can learn English logically.

I am working on the development of statistical methods, especially methods for regression problems. We are also creating the program (package). A regression problem is to estimate the relationship (regression function) between explanatory variables and the expected value of a response variable. I am interested in techniques for selecting some explanatory variables that are influencing the response variable. I am studying how to select variables when assuming a parametric model and a non-parametric model for the regression function. Regression analysis is used to estimate causal effects, for example in the analysis of covariance. I am also conducting research on the application of the developed methods to causal inference.

We are concerned with biomimetic microstructure formed by self-spreading behavior of phospholipid molecular assembly in nanotechnology fields. Especially, a pollen like structure formed by egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine myelin figures has been studied by use of an optical microscopy. Budding of giant liposomes (GUV ~ 50µm) from the tip of spore like structure were observed. The size of GUV and the forming behavior were discussed using a geometric packing shape and a phase separation phenomenon of phospholipid molecules.

The difficult past was a catastrophic event that led to “mass death,” and the damage was felt not only by the dead but also by the survivors. This applies to wars, pollution damage, isolation policies for Hansen’s disease, pollution damage, etc. Furthermore, because such damage involves a complex relationship between perpetrators and victims, the “interpretation = meaning” of the event is likely to be divided depending on one’s position, making it difficult to pass on experiences. Based on the concepts of collaboration and ESD, I create spaces for dialogue, practice public history, and deepen my research on the inheritance of difficult past experiences.

My research interests are in the origin and evolution of life on Earth in the 4.6 billion-years geological records; particularly the evolution of eukaryotes and multicellular animals. I am trying to clarify the environmental changes across these evolutions, based on the geological fieldworks in UK, China, Gabon, Mongolia, etc., the stratigraphic reconstructions (lithogy, fossils, age determination), and the paleoenvironmental reconstructions (chemical analyes). I am also developing teaching materials for geoscience education using VR technology.