Research Interests

I completed my PhD research at the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1999 and was appointed as an assistant professor at Yamanashi-medical University (now Yamanashi University, School of Medicine). During my training and junior faculty position in Japan, I studied calcium mobilization-contractile regulation and ischemia/reperfusion-induced arrhythmias in the heart. In 2001, I was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow at UCSD, and became an Assistant Professor in 2009 and an Associate Professor of Pharmacology in 2015. I have devoted my research to elucidating mechanisms for cardiomyocyte death and survival. I found that Akt-induced phosphorylation of hexokinase-2 confers mitochondrial protection and that this process is negatively regulated by PHLPP1, an Akt phosphatase. I also demonstrated that hexokinase-2 regulates autophagy and mitophagy. I have also been interested in the mechanisms by which the small Gprotein RhoA regulates mitophagy and inflammation. I have also extended my research to understanding how the NLRP3 inflammasome activation contributes to adverse cardiac remodeling in response to stress. My overall goal is to elucidate the mechanisms by which these signaling molecules regulate cellular integrity against stress.