For neruvous system to function properly, each component cell must be produced in adequate numbers, placed in the correct position, and correctly networked with each other. Any failure in any of these processes can impair neurological function and cause neurological and psychiatric disorders. Through the generation and analysis of animal models of neurological and psychiatric disorders, I am working to elucidate the pathogenesis of these diseases and to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying the development of neural tissue, especially the process of neural network formation.

There are many types of chemical compounds in our environment, and some of them have negative effects on our bodies. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for various diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertention, COPD, and cancer. However, there are no clear information which chemical compounds in the cigarette smoke have negative effects on our bodies and cause these diseases. I have previously identified unsaturated carbonyl compounds as stable cytotoxic factors in the gas phase of cigarette smoke. The unsaturated carbonyl compounds are also contained in the smoke from combustion of organic materials such as woods, oil, coal. Thus, the unsaturated carbonyl compounds are regarded as environmental pollutants. The purpose of my study is elucidation of the molecular mechanisms for cytotoxicity of environmental pollutants including unsaturated carbonyl compounds.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Food hygiene is expected to more important due to HACCP and export of meat and marine product.
Pneumonia is a common disease in feedlot, and Mycoplasma bovis may be involved. The bacteria occur such as pneumonia, mastitis, and arthritis. Endocarditis, which causes lesions in the heart, is occasionally observed at slaughterhouses (Fig). The researches of adhesive factors for vaccine development leads to a stable supply of meat product.
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC, STEC), Salmonella, Campylobacter,which are known to be food poisoning, are tested at the Meat Inspection Center. The study of food microbiology that have attracted attention in recent years, such as Clostridium perfringens and Listeria monocytogenes, makes to improve food safety.

I am working for research on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of dermatosis and ear diseases in companion animals (dogs, cats and exotic pet animals). Furthermore, I am focusing on research on the treatment of infestation by fleas, ticks and Demodex mites. With regard to preventive veterinary medicine, the survey on the prevalence of infectious diseases in dogs and cats and further pharmacoepidemiological studies on vaccines, prophylactics for dirofilariasis, and ectoparasiticides for dogs and cats.

In recent years, advances in high-precision radiotherapy and image-guided technologies have improved the balance between tumor control and normal tissue preservation in veterinary medicine. However, compared with human medicine, the number of clinical cases remains limited due to constraints such as general anesthesia and cost. In addition, differences in long-term follow-up further constrain data availability. Consequently, evidence regarding the evaluation and prediction of radiation effects, particularly late adverse effects, remains insufficient.
In human medicine, image analysis with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiomics, and genomic information is used to assess therapeutic efficacy and the risk of radiation effects, and to inform treatment planning, thereby contributing to the ongoing development of personalized radiation therapy. In contrast, veterinary medicine still relies primarily on evaluations based on radiation dose and clinical outcomes, and quantitative imaging-based assessments as well as integrative multi-factor analyses remain underdeveloped.
Against this background, we have conducted research on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) using MRI and are exploring its clinical applications for optimizing treatment planning and evaluating and predicting radiation effects.

In order to conduct animal experiments with due consideration for animal welfare, we are improving to improve experimental techniques and management methods for experimental animals, and the breeding environment. Since we humans and animals can only communicate non-verbally, we are interested in assessing the needs of animals. We are studying pain assessment and temperature management in postoperative mice by setting up an environment that is selective for the animals.
We also view dog walking as a “joint activity between owner and dog,” and research the health promotion of dogs and their owners through dog walking. Dog walking have been reported to have a positive effects on the physical and mental health of dogs and their owners. We are currently researching heat stroke prevention for dog owners and dogs during dog walking from the perspective of safe health promotion.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the major causative diseases for dementia. Characteristic AD pathology, such as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, are observed in aged animal brains, suggesting that AD pathology would be the sign of brain aging. Zoobiquity is an approach to investigate and treat diseases without any distinction of species. I have been working on the studies to clarify the mechanism of brain aging and the pathogenesis of AD by using nonhuman primates. I am also interested in how neuronal activities affect membrane traffic system in neural cells.

Non-human primates are prone to a variety of naturally occurring diseases, including diabetes, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, endometriosis, gastrointestinal disorders such as gastric dilatation and intractable diarrhea, macular degeneration, cataracts, periodontal disease, growth disorders, and tumors. We are conducting research to clinically and pathologically evaluate these conditions and assess their potential as models for human diseases.
Furthermore, chronic pain, such as neuropathic pain, can persist even after damage to the nervous system has healed, resulting in ongoing pain and discomfort. However, many aspects of its causes remain unclear. We conduct research on the assessment and treatment of chronic pain and visceral pain, with the aim of contributing to pain management in both animals and humans.
When I actually tried using toys to care for experimental animals, the animals often lost interest quickly and stopped playing, broke the toys, or left them in unsanitary conditions, which frequently led me to question their effectiveness. I am eager to actively engage in research on environmental enrichment for animals.

(Research on Campylobacter Control in Poultry Meat)
This study examines hygiene management for raw poultry dishes such as torisashi and tori-tataki, aiming to reduce Campylobacter food poisoning associated with undercooked chicken.
(Research on Campylobacter Typing Methods)
The project focuses on developing rapid typing techniques using bacterial genes, proteins, and other markers to support quick identification during outbreaks.
(Research on Risk Communication for Raw Meat Consumption)
This research explores effective ways to communicate foodborne illness risks related to raw meat products such as basashi, yukhoe, and raw liver, seeking new communication approaches beyond traditional one-way messaging.
(Research on Wildlife Management in Ehime Prefecture)
This study contributes to addressing agricultural damage and ecological disruption caused by wild boar, sika deer, and macaques through scientific analysis and collaboration among industry, government, academia, and financial sectors.

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.

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.).

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.

◆Research◆
The purpose of our study is the elucidation of the function of biomolecules by the computer simulation. We have carried out large-scale biomolecular quantum chemical computations, fragment molecular orbital (FMO) calculation and first-principles calculation, using the supercomputer FUGAKU. Our present works are (1) to explore the relationship between drug effects and side effects by analyzing the interaction of drugs and proteins, (2) to elucidate the function of proteins by analyzing of electrionic states of proteins and to develop new materials, (3) to elucidate the enantioselectivity and reactivity of the enzyme in organic synthesis by the biomolecular computational simulations of the complexes of lipases with organic compounds.
◆Social activity◆
・Group sub-leader of Enzyme WG of FMO Drug Design Consortium

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.

Composing functions is a fundamental operation that appears in various contexts. When this operation is treated as a bounded linear operator on a function space, it is called a composition operator, which has been the subject of extensive research.
My primary research focus is on operator algebras generated by these composition operators. In addition to studying the structure of these algebras, I am interested in using operator algebraic techniques to further investigate the properties of the composition operators themselves.
Beyond these core theoretical topics, I have been active in applying mathematics to various fields. My past work includes:
Shape interpolation related to computer graphics (CG), Screw dislocations in crystal structures, Caging in robotics.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of research utilizing sophisticated mathematical frameworks. I am eager to continue contributing my expertise to such interdisciplinary challenges.

The vehicle speed is calculated from the rotation of the wheels, so errors occur due to tire wear and other factors. Methods using GPS and map information also have the problem of being easily affected by the environment and changes over time. Therefore, we focused on the patterns on the road patterns and developed a position estimation method by matching feature points on road surface images, and applied it to measuring the vehicle speed.
The speed estimation procedure is as follows : ① Deriving pairs of feature points on images with the same features. ② Findng geometry parameters by feature points, . ④ Calculating distance by majority pairs. An example of
speed calculation is shown in the
right figure. The relative error
with GPS is -5%.