Childhood trauma often extends into adulthood, manifesting as complex conditions such as depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. However, pathophysiology across the lifespan remains poorly understood. We are committed to unraveling these complex pathologies through multidisciplinary, innovative research. Our research team consisting of clinical psychiatrists and psychologists develops novel methodologies through animal models and human studies. We are committed to studying human pathology with a balance of classical and transformative methods.

Manabu Makinodan Associate Professor

We aim to elucidate the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders with basic research using cells and mice and clinical research using human blood samples and brain imaging. Our translational research incorporates new techniques in genomics and post-mortem brain pathology with computational methods, strengths of the Department of Psychiatry and ICBS, respectively.

Michihiro Toritsuka Senior Assistant Professor

My research is centered on psychiatric disorders, with a particular interest in autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. I use my experience as a psychiatrist, while employing a variety of cell culture systems, including human iPS cell-derived neurons and peripheral blood monocyte-derived macrophages, to study the pathophysiology and develop treatments for these disorders.

Tsutomu Takeda Assistant Professor

After graduation, I entered clinical practice as a psychiatrist. In 2023, I started graduate school at Nara Medical University, focusing on single-cell RNA sequencing and mouse brain studies while self-learning data analysis using Python and R. I hope to apply these techniques for post-mortem brain analysis and genomic studies to understand the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.

Rio Ishida Graduate Student (D2, Domestic Study)

As a clinical psychologist and a certified public psychologist, I conducted biomarker research related to the pathophysiology of mental disorders. Now, I seek a multifaceted understanding of the mental structure of neurodevelopmental disorders and schizophrenia from psychological exam information and investigate the correlation between them and with various biomarkers.