Mentors: Dr. Masanori Aikawa and Dr. Elena Aikawa
I am a research fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences (CICS) in the Cardiovascular Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
I majored in applied physics at Nagoya University and then joined Kowa which is a Japanese pharmaceutical company that handles various products including prescription and OTC medicines, medical devices, optical equipment, etc. In Kowa, I worked on the R&D of a noninvasive blood triglyceride measuring system and a high-sensitive endotoxin measurement equipment using near-infrared spectrophotometry and light scattering. I also received my PhD at the University of Tsukuba through the study of heavy metal analysis techniques using the optical absorption characteristics of porphyrin molecules.
My current research interest is AI-powered drug discovery. After joining CICS, I have been working on the computational identification of small molecules and proteins that interact with targeted molecules. Machine learning, drug-induced gene expression profiles, and single-cell analysis are used in this research. I am excited that such computational approaches have begun to accelerate drug discovery and provide more effective drugs to patients.