Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)

Department of Advanced Nanomedical Engineering,
Medical Research Institute

Message

Recent years have witnessed growing clinical approvals of new drug classes, including nucleic acid therapeutics, gene therapy, and mRNA vaccines, changing the concept of drugs. These new classes of drugs control the functionalities of target genes and proteins to treat diseases at molecular levels, providing hopeful options for intractable disease treatment with reduced adverse effects. Developing such new drugs requires interdisciplinary research. For example, mRNA vaccine development involves chemistry and engineering for mRNA manufacturing and nano-drug delivery systems (DDS), molecular biology and immunology of mRNA, and medical research on vaccine effects and adverse outcomes. In this interdisciplinary field, our laboratory develops nano DDSs, evaluates their biological properties, and applies them to disease treatment, focusing on mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. Moreover, we attempt clinical translation in collaboration with companies. Notably, our research interests include basic research for understanding biological processes we observe in application studies.

Join Our Laboratory: Opportunities for Master's, Doctoral, and Postdoctoral Researchers

Graduate Students

Are you a motivated graduate student looking for an exciting research opportunity? Our laboratory is seeking talented individuals to join our team. We offer graduate programs for both master's and doctoral students, covering a wide range of topics from nano DDS technology development to biological evaluation and therapeutic applications. Regardless of your academic background, we welcome applicants from any field. You will have the flexibility to choose a research theme aligned with your academic interests. We are also happy to arrange laboratory tours, including online options, at your convenience. Feel free to contact us for more information and application details. (Detailed information )

Postdoctoral Researchers

Are you a postdoctoral researcher seeking a collaborative research environment? Look no further! Our laboratory welcomes postdocs to join our team. We provide a supportive atmosphere where you can further your research and contribute to cutting-edge discoveries. We encourage you to explore the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships.

News

Collaborative research with Prof. Uchida and Prof. Abe et al. at Nagoya University has been published in Nature Communications. M Inagaki, N Abe, Z Li, Y Nakashima, S Acharyya, K Ogawa, D Kawaguchi, H Hiraoka, A Banno, Z Meng, M Tada, T Ishida, P Lyu, K Kokubo, H Murase, F Hashiya, Y Kimura, S Uchida, H Abe,Cap analogs with a hydrophobic photocleavable tag enable facile purification of fully capped mRNA with various cap structures, Nature Communications 14, 2657, (2023)

Prof. Uchida gave an invited lecture titled "Basics of mRNA Vaccine," at a seminar co-sponsored by Moderna Japan, Co., Ltd. at the 97th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, the 71st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Joint Conference.

Prof. Uchida will give an online presentation titled "Nano-DDS Development for mRNA Vaccines and Drugs" at iSeminar on Wednesday, May 17, at 16:30. Everyone is welcome to join. [Registration]

We have launched our website.