Shinya OKI (Professor)

Shinya graduated from the School of Engineering, Osaka Univ in 2000. He then entered the Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka Univ, and graduated in 2007 (Doctor of Medicine). From the same year, he served as Assistant Professor and then Lecturer at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyushu Univ, and since 2020, he has held the position of Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto Univ. He assumed his current position in August, 2023.

Shinya has been involved in mouse developmental biology research for more than a decade since his graduate school days. Convinced that a data-driven approach is essential to unravel the mysteries of spatiotemporal gene expression, he became immersed in data analysis using supercomputers in his mid-thirties. In addition, he was also deeply involved in the development of spatial omics technologies, all of which have led to the present day. With a dual focus on data analysis and technological advancement, his goal is to unravel the mysteries of developmental phenomena while advancing applications in medicine and drug discovery.

Hobbies: enjoying alcohol while cooking, exploring Buddhist statues, mountain climbing.

Ryuichi KIMURA (Assistant Professor)

Ryuichi graduated from Kitasato Univ School of Science in 2010. He then completed the Ph.D. program at Tohoku Univ Graduate School of Medicine in 2015 (Doctor of Medicine). From the same year, he served as an assistant professor at the Tohoku Univ Graduate School of Medicine, and since 2020, he has held the position of assistant professor at the Medical Innovation Center, Kyoto Univ. He assumed his current position in April 2024.

Zhaonan ZOU (Assistant Professor)

Zhaonan was born Shenyang, Mainland China. He graduated from the Department of Biomedical Science, School of Medicine, Kyushu Univ, in 2017, and completed the Ph.D. program at Kyoto Univ Graduate School of Medicine in 2023 (Doctor of Medical Science). From the same year, he served a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, and assumed his current position in April 2024.

During his time at Kyushu Univ, he belonged to a developmental biology laboratory, where he studied the mechanisms underlying fetal malformations caused by maternal diabetes. There, he acquired skills in anatomy and molecular biology experiments. As his research progressed, he realized the potential of incorporating informatics approaches to identify environmental factors and drug targets through data-driven integration of bio big data. This led him to shift to computational biology from the doctoral course onward, continuing on this path to the present day.

Risa SHIMOKAWA (Ph.D. Student)

Risa graduated from the School of Medicine, Kurume Univ and obtained her medical license in 2015 (M.D.). She joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Kumamoto Univ Hosp in 2017. In April 2023, she enrolled in the Ph.D. program, and has been a member of Oki Lab since May 2024.

David NDURU (Ph.D. Student)

I graduated from Chuka University, Kenya, with a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry in 2018. In late 2021, I joined Kumamoto University, Japan, for my Master’s degree in medical science and graduated in early 2024. Immediately afterward, I enrolled in the same university for my PhD studies in medical science, which I am currently pursuing.

My main research interest lies in cellular diversity within multicellular systems and its role in maintaining health (tissue homeostasis) and contributing to disease (such as cancer). I am eager to grow my career through this opportunity and to build meaningful connections with like-minded scholars committed to advancing human health and science.