Assistant Professor, Department of Human Genetics, McGill University
Visiting Researcher, Center for Genomic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University
Using large-scale human genetics and data science to advance drug target discovery or diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases
What do you find interesting about your work and research
The most exciting part of research for me is its potential to save many lives and improve people's health. My work focuses on identifying drug targets for diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases by leveraging large-scale human genomic data and data science. As a physician, I have seen many patients suffer from diabetes, obesity, and their complications, such as heart attacks and end-stage kidney failure. While the number of patients I can treat directly as a doctor is limited, developing effective new drugs has the potential to help far more people. This is what excites me about science.
Drug development entails significant costs and carries a high risk of failure, but drug targets supported by human genomic evidence are two to three times more likely to succeed in clinical trials. As a result, the use of human genomics in drug discovery has gained substantial attention.
During my time at Kyoto University, I had the privilege of receiving comprehensive training during my residency and fellowship in the Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, and through the Kyoto-McGill International Collaborative Program in Genomic Medicine (Joint PhD). While I am now exclusively focused on research, I always strive to ask research questions that can ultimately benefit patients and clinical practice. The opportunity to gain hands-on clinical experience while staying close to research at Kyoto University laid a strong foundation for my career as a researcher.
Since the summer of 2024, I have been leading my own lab at McGill University in Canada (Yoshiji Lab at McGill University). Together with my team, we are committed to developing effective treatments for these diseases by combining large-scale human genomic data with cutting-edge data science.
