Moonshot Goal 2
「Realization of ultra-early disease prediction and intervention by 2050.」

Project Manager

Katagiri Hideki

Professor, Graduate School of Medicine

I am forever fascinated by the mysterious mechanisms that maintain normal metabolic conditions, i.e., homeostasis, and am reminded of them whenever I see patients with diabetes or obesity in the clinical field. My colleagues and I have discovered many examples of “inter-organ communication” which contribute to maintaining metabolic homeostasis at the whole-body level and have proposed its importance. My next goals are further elucidation of the mechanisms maintaining dynamic homeostasis in response to various situations and the development of novel preventive/therapeutic strategies for diabetes and its co-morbidities by manipulating these “inter-organ communication” mechanisms.

Project Summary

The aim of this project is to detect individuals with the ultra-early stages of diabetes or its co-morbidities non-invasively and to develop preventive/therapeutic strategies. To this end, research will be carried out in close collaboration within and among the following R&D items.

① Elucidation of homeostatic mechanisms by inter-organ communication and development of therapeutic and diagnostic methods

We will elucidate the inter-organ communication mechanisms maintaining homeostasis at the whole-body level related to metabolism and circulation.

② Elucidation and control of the mechanism of multi-organ transformation in diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is caused by and causes alterations in multiple organs. In the heart, liver, brain, kidney, and other organs and blood vessels, we will analyze both functional and morphological alterations in multiple organs/tissues in relation to inflammatory systems.

③ Development of technology for easy acquisition of biometric data in humans and analysis of human data

Diabetes and co-morbidities are often asymptomatic, especially in the early stages of the disease. We aim to develop and implement methods for detecting and predicting the early stages of diabetes and its co-morbidities non-invasively and to analyze the obtained biometric data including the genome.

④ Understanding homeostasis through mathematical model analysis and its applications

Using the data obtained from the above R&D items ➀, ➁ and ➂, we will proceed with mathematical model analysis and extract key elements to gain a comprehensive understanding.

Homepage of the research project

Katagiri Project Homepage

Related sites

〇Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine ,Division of Internal Medicine for Diabetes Metabolism
〇JST Moonshot
〇JST Homepage Top

For inquiries about this project

moonshot-katagiri※proj.med.tohoku.ac.jp

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