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100 labs · 10 student voices
Faculties at Kyoto University ›

So Iwata, Professor
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The Molecular Cell Informatics Lab (Iwata Lab) studies the three-dimensional structures of membrane proteins that are involved in disease and are the targets of many drugs. Looked at closely, how the body functions and how diseases arise come down to the “shapes” of molecules and the interactions between them. The lab mainly determines structures by X-ray crystallography. Based on those structures, it also works on computational design of new drugs and simulations of molecular motion. The lab carries out its research in collaboration with a synchrotron facility in the UK and SACLA, Japan's X-ray free-electron laser facility, and welcomes researchers and graduate students who want to work internationally.

Yasuyuki Fujita, Professor
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The Molecular Oncology Lab studies what happens between normal epithelial cells and mutant cells at the very earliest stage of cancer. Using cultured cells and mice that it established on its own, the lab found that “cell competition,” in which normal cells and mutant cells compete for survival, takes place and that mutant cells are removed from the epithelial layer. This shows that normal epithelial tissue has the ability to eliminate mutant cells without involving the immune system, and it may lead to the development of preventive treatments for cancer.

Takashi Shinohara, Professor
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The Molecular Genetics Lab (Shinohara Lab) focuses on spermatogonial stem cells, the source of sperm, and studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which an individual passes genetic information to the next generation. Among germ cells, spermatogonial stem cells are the only ones with the ability to keep producing copies of themselves (self-renewal). The lab established a culture method that allows spermatogonial stem cells to be expanded for a long time in vitro, and named these cells GS cells. It aims to apply the knowledge gained to gene modification technology and medicine.

Takashi Hanakawa, Professor
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The Integrated Brain Imaging Lab uses noninvasive methods of measuring the brain, such as MRI, to study how information networks in the brain work and what goes wrong in them in psychiatric and neurological disorders. There is still a gap to be bridged between what can be learned by measuring the brain from the outside and existing knowledge from neuroanatomy and neuropathology. The lab aims to develop technologies that capture brain structure and function seamlessly, from the cellular level to the level of the whole brain. It is also developing neuroengineering technologies that act on brain activity, connecting knowledge toward overcoming psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Yasunori Hayashi, Professor
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The Systems Neuropharmacology Lab (Hayashi Lab) studies how memories are maintained in the brain. It focuses in particular on the hippocampus, a brain region necessary for forming new memories. In the hippocampus, long-term potentiation (LTP), in which synaptic transmission is strengthened for a long time by a brief stimulus, occurs, and this is considered a cellular-level model of memory. By combining molecular biology, electrophysiology, animal behavior experiments, and imaging, the lab seeks to uncover the molecular mechanisms of LTP.

Kazuto Yoshimi, Professor
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The Laboratory Animal Science Lab (Yoshimi Lab) is built around the question of how far human biological phenomena can be reproduced in animals, and conducts research using animal models that mimic humans. Building on genome editing technologies such as CRISPR-Cas, the lab develops "genome-humanized models," in which regions of human genes are inserted into the animal genome, as well as technologies for rewriting large regions of the genome. It is a new lab established in April 2026 at the Institute of Laboratory Animals, Graduate School of Medicine. The lab accepts students from the Department of Medicine and the Department of Medical Science in the Graduate School, and welcomes lab visits and inquiries at any time.

Hirohide Takebayashi, Professor
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The Brain Functional Morphology Lab studies the development, plasticity, and age-related changes of the nervous system, with a focus on glial cells. The lab also aims to clarify the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and of diseases that cause involuntary movements, in which parts of the body move regardless of one's will, and to develop new treatments for them. The lab is in charge of teaching systematic human anatomy in the School of Medicine and also supports clinical anatomy work at the Kyoto University Clinical Anatomy Laboratory. It is a new field that began in April 2024 when Prof. Takebayashi took up his post, and it is the only lab within the Center for Anatomical Studies.

Takahisa Kawaguchi, Assistant Professor
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The Disease Genome Epidemiology and Genome Informatics Lab uses genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analysis technologies to study diseases involving many factors at multiple levels. The lab builds databases linked to patients' clinical information, aiming for prediction, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention tailored to each individual. It is carrying out the Nagahama Project, Japan's first large-scale genome cohort study of community residents. The lab is a division of the Center for Genomic Medicine, which is affiliated with the Graduate School of Medicine, and it is also involved in an international joint doctoral program with McGill University in Canada and in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur.

Hitomi Kataoka, Professor
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The Medical Education Lab investigates how healthcare professionals, including medical students and their instructors, deepen their learning and by what methods. Learning is shaped not only by what is inside the learner but also by their relationships with others and the environment they learn in, so everyday life at the university and in clinical settings is itself the subject of research. The lab puts particular emphasis on learner-centered learning, learning within patient-centered care, and diversity and inclusion.

THUMKEO Dean, Professor
0 student voices
The Immunopharmacology Lab aims to uncover how immune cells work and to apply that knowledge to new therapies. Its immediate goal is to treat cancer by using the immune system. Beyond that, the lab hopes to manipulate immune cells to achieve tissue regeneration and to treat neurodegenerative diseases of the brain. The lab seamlessly combines wet experiments with large-scale data analysis (dry), and its members come from a wide range of backgrounds. The lab puts effort into creating an international research environment.
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