GO TOP

Field

Integrative Life Sciences :
Cooperative faculties

Research

JAPANESE
Professor KAWAOKA Shinpei
Campus Seiryo campus
Laboratory Biological Interactions
Tel +81-22-717-8568
E-mail shinpei.kawaoka.c1＠tohoku.ac.jp
Website https://www.charlie-bioanalytics.com/
Researchmap
https://researchmap.jp/charlie_kawashin
 
 
I enjoy the process of interpreting biological states from large-scale data analysis.
 

I was born in Sendai in 1983 when my mother temporarily returned there for childbirth while living in Akita. I have lived in many places: Akita (Sendai) → Kanagawa →  Saitama → Tokyo → Tokyo →  Saitama → the United States → Nara → Nara →  and finally Sendai. Among them, I find Sendai the most comfortable place to live.
 

During my undergraduate studies, I worked on insect physiology using silkworms. In graduate school, I studied small RNA biology using silkworm models. After completing my PhD, I became interested in cancer research and moved to the United States. There I encountered a fundamental question: why do organisms ultimately die from cancer? Wanting to pursue this question further, I returned to Japan to start my own research group.
 

For me, discovering new questions is the most exciting part of science. I also enjoy manga, video games, and movies.
 
Career
Graduated from Kasukabe High School, Saitama (2002)
B.Sc., Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo (2007)
M.Sc., Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (2009)
Ph.D., Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (2012)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (2012–2014)
Senior Researcher, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) (2014–2018)
Group Leader, JST ERATO (2014–2018)
Program-Specific Associate Professor, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University (2018–present)
Associate Professor, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University (2021–2025)
Professor, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University (2026-present)
 
Selected Publications
  1. Hojo et al. Nat Commun. 2019 Jun 13;10(1):2603. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10525-1.
  2. Mizuno et al. Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 15;13(1):3346. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30926-z.
  3. Vandenbon et al. Commun Biol. 2023 Jan 24;6(1):97. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04479-w.
  4. Maeshima et al. eBioMedicine 2024 Sep:107:105271. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105271.
  5. Nakamura et al. Cancer Sci. 2024 Mar;115(3):715-722. doi: 10.1111/cas.16078. 
  6. 実験医学2024年3月号「がんと全身性代謝変容」(https://www.yodosha.co.jp/yodobook/book/9784758125772/)
Activities in Academic Societies
Japan Association for Cachexia and Sarcopenia
The Japanese Biochemical Society
The Molecular Biology Society of Japan
Teaching
Basic Medicine IV

Recent Activities

Our laboratory focuses on three major research directions:
  1. Cancer-induced systemic dysfuction 
  2. Enhancer-dependent regulation of metabolism, immunity, and aging
  3. Biological impacts of daily human activities
Despite remarkable progress in cancer medicine, more than 370,000 people still die from cancer every year in Japan. Why does the condition of the whole body deteriorate as cancer progresses? Why does cancer ultimately lead to death? Our research aims to answer these fundamental questions.
 
Enhancers are non-coding genomic regions that determine when, where, and how strongly genes are expressed. They function like switches. By disrupting enhancer regions, we can specifically affect gene regulation without destroying the gene itself. Using this strategy, we investigate how enhancers regulate metabolism, immune responses, and aging.
 

We also explore how everyday human activities influence biological states. Even a simple conversation can have different effects depending on the context—for example, talking with a close friend versus speaking with someone you have just met for work. By visualizing such fluctuations through multi-omics analyses, we aim to better understand humans as a fascinating biological system.
 

Message to Students

If our research sounds interesting to you, feel free to stop by the lab anytime. Conversations about manga, games, and movies are always welcome as well.

Research