Labs in The University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine

Medicine & Healthcare0 student voices

This behavioral science and social epidemiology lab investigates how social inequalities affect health.

The lab studies how social structures and relationships between people affect health-related behaviors and health itself. The lab combines theories and methods from behavioral science, psychology, sociology, economics, and epidemiology. The lab focuses in particular on eliminating the health disparities caused by social inequalities, and is committed to communicating evidence-based findings. Its interests range from the everyday level, such as communication between patients and healthcare providers, to the societal level, such as health and medical policy.

#Social epidemiology #Health disparities #Physical activity

Medicine & Healthcare0 student voices

The lab uses epidemiology to study the relationship between what and how people eat and their health.

The Social and Preventive Epidemiology Lab focuses on nutritional epidemiology. Nutritional epidemiology is a field that uses epidemiological methods to clarify the relationship between what and how people eat and their health. The lab studies how to assess diet itself, and uses those methods to investigate the relationships between dietary habits and a range of health problems. The lab was established when the Department of Public Health (School of Public Health) was founded, and Prof. Murakami was appointed Professor in August 2023.

#Nutritional epidemiology #Dietary assessment methods #Public health nutrition

Medicine & Healthcare0 student voices

The lab studies how to collect and analyze data in medical research.

The Biostatistics Lab studies statistical methodology for medical research. Biostatistics is a field that provides methods for how to collect data (study design) and how to analyze it (statistical analysis) in medical research. The lab also conducts research and education in epidemiology, which examines health- and disease-related events in populations in order to support prevention. At the undergraduate level, the lab is in charge of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and students writing graduation theses also belong to it.

#Biostatistics #Epidemiology #Clinical research

Bio & Life Sciences0 student voices

The lab studies, at the molecular level, how malaria parasites and Entamoeba histolytica cause disease.

The Biomedical Chemistry Lab studies the parasitic protozoa that cause malaria and amoebiasis. The lab investigates, at the molecular level, how these protozoa cause disease and the metabolic pathways unique to them. Its experimental approaches are wide-ranging, including molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics. International students and researchers are always present in the lab, giving it a thoroughly international atmosphere.

#Parasitic protozoa #Malaria #Entamoeba histolytica

Medicine & Healthcare0 student voices

The lab explores the health problems of different populations through the relationship between humans and their environment.

The Human Ecology Lab studies how humans live in relation to their environment. Environmental change affects human health in many ways, such as through chemical pollution and the breakdown of symbiosis with the gut microbiota. The lab conducts fieldwork in places such as Papua New Guinea, Laos, and rural areas of Japan, exploring the ecological and cultural factors behind the health problems of each population. The lab values its guiding principle: "It's fine to fail, so go all in on what you find interesting."

#Human ecology #Gut microbiota #Fieldwork

Medicine & Healthcare0 student voices

A lab that studies mosquito-borne viral diseases such as dengue fever, covering everything from field surveys to vaccines.

The Developmental Medical Sciences Lab studies mosquito-borne viral infections such as dengue fever and Zika fever. It was founded as the first lab in Japan to study maternal and child health, and in 2021 Prof. Moi became its sixth head professor. The lab's work ranges from field surveys with countries in Asia to the immune mechanisms against viruses and the development of vaccines and therapeutics. International students are also enrolled, and the lab conducts joint research with research institutions in Japan and abroad, mainly in Asia.

#Dengue fever #Vaccines #Mosquito-borne viral diseases

Bio & Life Sciences0 student voices

The lab uses its own original imaging technologies to uncover how synapses work.

The lab studies how synapses, which connect neurons in the brain, work. It develops its own visualization technologies, including imaging techniques that use light to visualize neurotransmitter release and super-resolution microscopy. It builds new technologies by combining methods from organic chemistry, chemical biology, molecular biology, and optics. Using these technologies, the lab investigates how neurotransmitters are released from synapses.

#Synapses #Super-resolution imaging #Chemical biology

Bio & Life Sciences0 student voices

The lab observes neural circuits at the cellular level to understand how the brain predicts, chooses, and learns.

The Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology (Matsuzaki Lab) studies, at the cellular level, how neural circuits in the brain give rise to behavior and intelligence. Animal brains predict upcoming outcomes from sensory input and the state of the body, choose actions, and learn from the results. The lab combines two-photon imaging and optogenetics to directly observe active neurons and investigate how circuits function. Using mice and marmosets, a small species of monkey, the lab also studies the circuits that support abilities characteristic of primates, such as understanding the actions of others and imitation learning.

#Two-photon imaging #Frontal cortex #Marmoset

Bio & Life Sciences0 student voices

神経細胞生物学教室（岡部繁男研究室） (introduction coming soon)

Formation and maintenance of central nervous system neural networks; synaptic imaging

Bio & Life Sciences0 student voices

The lab studies molecular motors that transport cargo inside cells, and aims to develop therapies based on extracellular vesicles.

Tanaka Lab studies kinesin molecular motors, which carry cargo inside cells, along with transport within the cell and release to the outside of the cell. The lab's work rests on the idea that cell function is determined not only by what is present and in what amount, but also by where it is located in the cell. By examining mice with altered kinesin genes, the lab has traced how various diseases arise, including liver cirrhosis, diabetes, and schizophrenia. Currently, using extra-large extracellular vesicles (XLEVs), which have a strong ability to regenerate tissue, as a clue, the lab is pursuing research that leads to treatments for serious diseases.

#Kinesin #Extracellular vesicles #Translational research