Toshihiko Ogura

Toshihiko Ogura earned his medical degree from Tohoku University in 1984 and his Ph.D. in immunology and molecular biology from Kyoto University in 1988. After spending a short period as a pediatrician in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, he moved to Yale University School of Medicine in 1989 to take on a position as Postdoctoral Fellow. In 1991, he became a Research Associate in the Gene Expression Laboratory of Dr. Ronald M. Evans at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. He returned to Japan in 1995, where he assumed an Assistant Professorship at Nara Institute of Science and Technology and later appointed Associate Professor at the same institute. Since 2003, he has served as Professor in the Department of Developmental Neurobiology in the Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer at Tohoku University.

Dr. Ogura's research group is interested in looking at the mechanisms involved in pattern formation of the vertebrate embryos. The group has recently identified a number of proteins that change their conformation and/or sub-cellular localization in response to physical forces generated by the cells and the environment, which in turn activate biochemical responses. They have begun to take a closer look at this unique mechanical mechanism to uncover the roles that physical forces generated and sensed by the cells play in pattern formation of embryos and homeostasis of adults.