Name: Yoshiji Yamada

My Area of Interest: Genetic epidemiology and functional genomics.

My Favourite Quote: Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.

I am a: Professor and director of the Department of Human Functional Genomics, Life Science Research Center, Mie University, and director of the Research Center for Genomic Medicine at Mie University.

Short Profile:

I received a M.D. degree in 1982 and a Ph.D. degree in 1990 in internal medicine from Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Nagoya, Japan. I carried out postdoctoral research at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. I am presently Professor and Director of the Department of Human Functional Genomics, Life Science Research Center, Mie University, and Director of the Research Center for Genomic Medicine at Mie University, Tsu, Japan. My research interests include genetic epidemiology and functional genomics of common complex diseases to develop personalized medicine.

Question and Answer Session: 

What are your future goals? Where do you see your research heading?:
The goal of my research is to develop the personalized medicine of common complex diseases and thereby to contribute to establishment of evidence-based genomic medicine.

Technologies seem to changing faster than ever, how do you adapt to that? What are the current technologies you are using?:
I am always trying to utilize highly advanced technologies to develop my research for genetic epidemiology and functional genomics. I am using SNP chips (Affymetrix and Illumina) for genome-wide association studies, cDNA microarrays (Agilent) for gene expression analyses, and suspension array technology (Luminex) for genotyping of polymorphisms.

In the broader picture, where do you see the application for your cutting-edge research?:
My research will be applied to prevent an individual from undergoing common complex diseases by medical intervention based on his or her genotype for specific polymorphisms and also be applied to select specific therapeutic agents individualized on the basis of certain genetic susceptibility factors, thereby increasing the efficacy and limiting the toxicity of treatment.

Fast forward to 2020. What’s your vision of Genomics in 2020?:
In 2020, predictive genetic tests will be available for many common complex diseases in which interventions can alleviate inherited risk, so that each of us can learn of our individual risks for future illness and practice more effective health maintenance and disease prevention. In addition, genome-based designer drugs will be available for conditions such as diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, hypertension, bronchial asthma, Crohnfs disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other disorders. Cancer treatment will precisely target the molecules of particular tumors. The diagnosis and treatment of mental illness will be transformed. Genetic and genomic information will be used routinely to give patients more appropriate drug therapy.