Yasuhiro Murakawa

Professor

I am interested in why we grow old and why we suffer from diseases? My dream is to be able to decipher the mysteries of life and to be able to cure diseases that cannot be cured. I like to discuss these issues over a drink.

Shruti Bhagat

Specially appointed assistant professor/JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Overseas Researcher

Shruti aims to understand how the non-coding genome regulates gene expression. She specifically wants to understand the different contributions of promoters and enhancers, and how non-coding risk variants affect molecular gene function. She is currently completing her doctoral degree in the joint RIKEN – Karolinska Institute Ph.D. program. Outside the lab, she likes exploring various cafés and coffee shops.

Kohei Hamanaka

Assistant professor

I am interested in anything and everything with a focus on rare disease genetics and functional genomics and would like to do research.

Kazuhiro Takeuchi

Graduate student

Fumiya Wada

Graduate student

He would like to gain deeper understanding of pathogenesis of hematological disease and research for aiming at the cure.

Sho Skito

Graduate student

He aims to research urologic oncology that can contribute to patients making use of his clinical experience.

Hobbies: Cooking (pasta, curry), Breeding small shrimp, Online English school

Daisuke Akiyama

Graduate student

I am interested in how somatic mutations affect the transcriptome in hematopoietic tumors.

Hobbies: Electric bass, mountain climbing, camping, origami.

Zhiwei (Alouette) Zhang

Graduate student

Alouette is a PhD student supervised by Dr. Simon Gravel and Dr. Yasuhiro Murakawa under the Kyoto-McGill International Collaborative Program in Genomic Medicine. She studies how evolution affected patterns of variation encoded in our genome and among populations. She is actively learning how these regions can link to biological functions and diseases.

Likes: cats, rabbits, drawing

Sumi Youn

Graduate student

I am interested in sleeping types by gene expression.

Likes : walking, coffee

Rodrigo Lopez Gutierrez

Graduate student

Rodrigo is a PhD student in the Kyoto-McGill International Joint PhD Program in Genomic Medicine. He is interested in using computational genomics to understand the mechanisms regulating gene expression in brain development and disease. More specifically, he aims to define the regulation driving oncogenic fusions in pediatric brain tumors.

Likes: travelling, baking

Akiyoshi Senda

Graduate student

I would like to discover new insights into complex skin diseases through cutting-edge functional genomics.
Graduated from faculty of medicine, Kyoto University in 2019. Residency in department of Dermatology, Kyoto University.

Likes: skiing, cycling, running, tea&coffee and French (Bonjour !)

Shoya Kato

Graduate student

I am interested in what kind of changes occur in genes when humans suffer from diseases. In particular, I would like to conduct research that will lead to new diagnosis and treatment using genes.

Hobbies : Mountain climbing, photography

Zhengchang Li

Graduate student

I focus on using computational methods and genomics to explore the complexity of neurological diseases, especially the heterogeneity of phenotypes in diagnosed individuals. I'm investigating the role of RNA and non-coding elements in understanding their relationship.

Hobbies: Exploring a variety of beverages.

Suguru Morimoto

Graduate student

I aim to deepen my understanding of transcription regulation mechanisms and conduct research that can contribute to patients suffering from hematopoietic tumors. I have a particular interest in the effects of non-coding region mutations on transcription activity and splicing abnormalities.

Satoshi Yasuhara

Graduate student

I want to build on my clinical experience and take a broad perspective in my research.

In my spare time, I enjoy indulging in ice cream, exploring the underwater world through diving, and immersing myself in indie games.

Takahiro Mizukami

Research student

I would like to understand how ocular diseases develop and how can we treat them in order to save patients from vision loss.

Hobby: Travelling, Tennis

Wanxu Huang

International Guest Scholar

I am interested in RNA biology, especially long non-coding RNA and RNA modification, with their roles and application in cancer. I am also interested in cancer epigenetics and cancer drug discovery.

Hobbies: hiking, reading, photography

Masaya Kondo

Undergraduate student

I would like to learn how to make the most of the advantages of statistics to discover hidden macroscopic regularities in RNA sequences. Also, I hope to try doing wet experiments someday.

John Zamma

Undergraduate student

I enjoy spending time thinking about the meaning of life and the reasons behind our deep drive to pass down our souls. The more we understand the subtle mechanisms we follow, the more it seems to me like a divine power might be orchestrating nature's intricate workings. At the same time, I find pleasure in exploring unknown processes in which gene expressions are carefully regulated. Along with my scientific interests, I also like engaging in sports and music.

Ojiro Ishibashi

Undergraduate student

I want to study not only genomics but also many other things and combine them to create something unique and interesting of my own.

I like playing with dogs and delicious food and drinks.

Shuichiro Komatsu

Visiting researcher（RIKEN）

Federico De Marchi

Post-Doctoral researcher (IFOM-RIKEN)

I would like to understand how cancer develops and why it’s so different from patients to patients: I believe the answers are somewhere written hidden in our genome and could be the keys to cure these diseases. My mission is then to try to decipher this extraordinary complex puzzle while enjoying the challenge.
In my free time I especially like food (eating) and old videogames.

Hiromi Sano

Technical staff（RIKEN）

Akiko Oguchi

Research associate（RIKEN）/　Specially Appointed Researcher（Kyoto University）

My dream is to be able to create a new therapeutic drug for kidney diseases and to be able to reduce the number of dialysis patients.
I am working on our research, feeling the potential of RNAs for drug discovery. Please visit the following link (https://www.riken.jp/medialibrary/riken/careers/programs/yrnews_29.pdf ).

Favorite things: Hana (my beloved dog), drinking, traveling

Raku Son

Research associate（RIKEN）/　Specially Appointed Researcher（Kyoto University）

I never imagined starting programming as a Ph.D. student but it is fun and opened up a new world! All the patients with acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease that I met during the residency keep me motivated as a researcher to change the actual clinical practice.
The favorite field in Nephrology: hyponatremia

Tomoya Hirai

Junior research associate（RIKEN）/　Specially Appointed Researcher（Kyoto University）

Tomoya is belonging to the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Yokohama City University, and thankfully he had the opportunity to study in Murakawa Group. He is interested in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and lymph node metastasis in the gastrointestinal field.

Hiroki Sai

Student Trainee（RIKEN）

Genomic medicine has also come to be used in clinical practice in urology. I hope to conduct research that will lead to new diagnoses and treatments.

Eri Okamoto

Secretary

Sayo Katayama

Secretary

Aya Otsu

Research administrative assistant（RIKEN）