01 Research Summary
For survival, all organisms, including humans, adjust their internal state, such as physiological and psychological, to adapt to the external world. The adaptation requires mutual communication between the internal state and the outer world. In our laboratory, we will understand how the internal state (e.g. sleep or arousal state)and external world information is processed, integrated for executing appropriate action, such as behavior and emotion in the brain. Currently, we are trying to understand the underlying neural mechanisms for taste or pain perception at the multi-levels (Gene, Cell, Circuit, and Behavior).
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02 Major achievements
Rodriguez E, Sakurai K, Xu J, Chen Y, Toda K, Zhao S, Han BX, Ryu D, Yin H, Liedtke W, Wang F. “A craniofacial-specific monosynaptic circuit enables heightened affective pain” Nature Neuroscience. 2017, 20(12), 1734-1743.
Sakurai K, Zhao S, Takatoh J, Rodriguez E, Lu J, Leavitt A, Fu M, Han BX, Wang F. “Capturing and manipulating activated neuronal ensembles with CANE delineates a hypothalamic social-fear circuit” Neuron. 2016, 92(4), 739-753.
Sakurai K, Akiyama M, Cai B, Scott A, Han BX, Takatoh J, Sigrist M, Arber S, Wang F. “The organization of submodality-specific touch afferent inputs in the vibrissa column” Cell Reports. 2013, 5(1), 87-98.
03 Education/Academic background and major awards
Education/Academic background
2008Mar | Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan Ph.D. in Medical Science |
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2008Apr-2008Oct | Postdoctoral Fellow at Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan |
2008Nov-2013Oct | Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA |
2013Nov-2017Jun | Research Associate Senior at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA |
2017Jul-Present | Assistant Professor, International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan |
Awards
2008 | Tohoku University, Graduate School of Medicine, Scholarship award |
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2013 | Duke University, Department of Neurobiology, Graduate Program Retreat, Best poster presentation award |
Why did you become a scientist?
I just wanted to live abroad. The scientist seems cool. (Now, I don’t think so)
What do you care about at work?
I just want to do something interesting.
What are you most interested in lately?
Nothing.
Core Group
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Neuroscience
Masashi Yanagisawa
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Neuroscience
Takeshi Sakurai
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Data Science
Hiroyuki Kitagawa
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Neuroscience
Robert Greene
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Neuroscience
Hiromasa Funato
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Neuroscience
Qinghua Liu
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Neuroscience
Kaspar Vogt
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Neuroscience
Yu Hayashi
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Neuroscience
Masanori Sakaguchi
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Human sleep
Kumpei Tokuyama
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Neuroscience
Michael Lazarus
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Neuroscience
Sakiko Honjoh
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Human sleep
Takashi Abe
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Neuroscience
Yo Oishi
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Neuroscience
Katsuyasu Sakurai
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Neuroscience
Arisa Hirano
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Human sleep
Takashi Kanbayashi
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Neuroscience
Hirofumi Toda
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Drug discovery
Noriki Kutsumura
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Human sleep
Tomohiro Okura
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Data Science
Shoi Shi
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Drug discovery
Tsuyoshi Saitoh