TOKAI UNIVERSITY Researchers Guide 2020

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Formation of an accretionary prism at plate subduction zone is the geological process which plays an important role in the evolution of continental crust and island arcs, history of material cycle and origin of mega-earthquake and tsunami. My research focused the accretionary processes of sediments at the Nankai Trough as well as an ancient counterpart observed at the Shimanto Belt in Shikoku, Japan. I have led the project with deployment of D/V Chikyu together with variety of geological and geophysical measurements within the framework of International Ocean Discovery Program. The results indicate that concentrated interaction of physical, chemical and biological processes at the plate boundary fault zone plays fur more important role in the evolution of accretionary prism and earthquake-tsunami genesis. ResearchAreasInterdisciplinary science and engineeringKeyword■Marine Geology■Plate Tectonics■History of Earth■Anthropocene■Scientic Ocean DrillingRelatedresearchSDGNankai Trogh Subduction Zone／Shimanto Accretionary Prism／Tectonics of Japan／Cretaceous Black ShalesProfessorAsahiko TairaCenter / Research Institute, etc.Institute of Oceanic Research and DevelopmentCenter / Research Institute, etc.Institute of Medical SciencesCenter / Research Institute, etc.Institute of Medical SciencesUsing the new techniques of embryonic engineering and genetic manipulation of the mouse combined with the genome-wide analyses for the individual genome of the patients, we would like to reveal the mechanism of the human diseases, such as cancer, life-style related diseases and intractable diseases in vivo. These researches will contribute for the diagnoses and the therapy for each disease and for the basic research to reveal the genome architecture and the gene function to maintain the human body through life.ResearchAreasMedicine, dentistry, and pharmacyKeyword■Animal model for human diseases■Genetic engineering■Cancer■Development■NeurobiologyRelatedresearchSDGDeveloping animal model for human diseases such as cancer, life-style related diseases and intractable diseasesProfessorMinoru KimuraWe identied susceptibility variants of systemic sclerosis and alopecia areata in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genome region. Moreover, we demonstrated that mice engineered to carry the alopecia areata susceptibility variant displayed a hair loss phenotype. Our engineered mice provide a valuable resource for continued research into alopecia areata pathogenesis and the development of potential future treatments. We also try to investigate more variants associated with other diseases.ResearchAreasMedicine, dentistry, and pharmacyKeyword■Genetics■Human genome■Animal model for human disease■Skin diseaseRelatedresearchSDGGenetics and molecular biology of common diseaseJunior Associate ProfessorAkira Oka141