Yoshida lab
Dept. Evolutionary Genomics
@ Brain Research Institute, Niigata University
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Recent Events
Oct. 1, 2026 Yoshida has launched a new research project as Principal Investigator under the JST PRESTO program (Strategic Basic Research Programs), entitled "Elucidating the Biological Potentials Underlying Genome Evolution through Spatiotemporal Analysis of Hybrid Genomes in Nematodes" This exciting project aims to measure the intrinsic vitality of genomes—their hidden potential to sustain and restore themselves.
Sep. 25, 2026 Our collaborative study with Dr. Hosoki at Hokkaido University and Prof. Jun Kitano at the National Institute of Genetics was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The study investigates the genomic mechanisms underlying a remarkable phenomenon: two stickleback species that became mixed following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami gradually recovered their original species identities over time. [Link]
Sep. 11, 2026 Yoshida gave an invited talk at the workshop "Repeats Are Not Junk! — New Insights into the Roles of Non-Dispersed Repeats in Genome Stability and Evolution" at the 98th Annual Meeting of the Genetics Society of Japan [Link]. It was a great opportunity to share our recent findings connecting repeat evolution and chromosome evolution with leading researchers at the forefront of repeat biology.
Sep. 7, 2026 Two third-year medical students have joined our laboratory for their basic research training! As this is the first time our lab has hosted medical students, we were initially a little unsure how things would go. But thanks to these talented and enthusiastic students, we're already having a great time doing research together!
Aug. 27, 2026 Yoshida presented our recent research at the Brain Research Institute Seminar at Niigata University [Link]. This annual seminar welcomes students from outside the university who are interested in the Brain Research Institute, making it a refreshing and enjoyable opportunity to share our work with a new audience. If you're interested, please consider joining us next year! Travel support is available, and you'll also have the chance to visit our laboratories.
Aug. 17, 2026 Yoshida attended the 29th Annual Meeting of the Society of Evolutionary Studies, Japan, held in Nagoya [Link], and gave an oral presentation. I've always enjoyed the friendly and welcoming atmosphere of this meeting, and it was a pleasure to have so many stimulating discussions with fellow evolutionary biologists.
Aug. 21, 2026 Yoshida and Ishita attended nFuture 2026 [Link] and presented posters. This annual meeting brings together nematode researchers from across Japan. Students and early-career researchers take the lead in presenting and discussing their research, creating a uniquely energetic and youthful atmosphere that is rarely found at other scientific meetings in Japan.
July 6–7, 2026 Yoshida and Ishita attended the 5th International Pristionchus Meeting, held at the Max Planck Institute in Germany [Link]. Yoshida gave an oral presentation, while Ishita presented a poster on our recent research. We were impressed by how much the Pristionchus research community has grown and expanded. The intensive and stimulating discussions provided fresh ideas and new momentum for our research.
Apr. 1, 2026 Starting this fiscal year, our laboratory has relaunched as the Department of Evolutionary Genomics. Under the reorganization of the Brain Research Institute, six divisions, including ours, have come together to form the Field of Evolutionary Brain Pathology. Evolutionary Brain Pathology will become one of the major research pillars of the Brain Research Institute.
Past events
Mar. 13, 2026 Yoshida gave an invited talk at the 2nd PRI Umetaro Suzuki Symposium in RIKEN. It was a highly stimulating symposium, featuring cutting-edge talks from a wide range of biological fields.
Mar. 4–5, 2026 Yoshida was invited to give a presentation at the workshop “Population Genetics in the Era of Population Genomics” held at the National Institute of Genetics.
Mar. 2, 2026 We organized the 16th BRI International Symposium, “Evolutionary Genomics: From Biodiversity to Human Disease,” at the Brain Research Institute. This was an important symposium that helped define the future direction of our research. We sincerely thank all the speakers for their contributions. [Link]
Feb. 23-25, 2026 Yoshida and Ishita participated in the annual meeting of the CREST research area “Cell control”. As always, we were greatly inspired by the outstanding research presented by the participants.
Feb. 15, 2026 Ishita’s new paper was published in Development, Growth & Differentiation. This work was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Misako Okumura at Hiroshima University. [Link]
Feb. 5-6, 2026 Yoshida participated in the annual joint symposium of BRI–NIPS–Ehub in Inuyama. He presented a poster on our new research related to ALS.
Feb. 1, 2026 Ms. Keiko Sasaki joined our laboratory as a technical assistant, succeeding Ms. Kozue Ishizuka. We sincerely thank Ms. Ishizuka for her contributions and warmly welcome Ms. Sasaki to the lab.
Dec 18, 2025 Yoshida wrote a Brain Research Institute column titled “What Are the Evolutionary Origins of Disease? (in Japanese)” [Link]
Oct 6, 2025 Yoshida delivered a special lecture at Nagoya University, summarizing his research achievements on nematodes to date. The students and researchers were highly engaged, leading to stimulating and lively discussions.
Sep 29-30, 2025 Yoshida attended and gave a presentation at the NIG-JOINT workshop "Genome Diversity and Its Understanding from Chromosome Configuration and Karyotype." It was a valuable opportunity to hear about cutting-edge research toward integrating genome biology and cytogenetics.
Sep 4-6, 2025 Yoshida attended the 98th Annual Meeting of the Zoological Society of Japan in Nagoya and gave an invited talk at the symposium. It was his first time attending a zoological conference, but the atmosphere was very homey and enjoyable.
Aug 17-Aug 23. 2025 Yoshida gave an invited talk at ESEB 2025. It was a great honor to present our research at a conference attended by 2000 people.
Jun 30-July 1. 2025 Yoshida attended to the workshop of JST CREST "Cell Control" at Hiroshima and talked the recent progress. It was intensive to learn advanced tech for genome editing.
Jun 28-July 2. 2025 Ishita attended to the 25th International Worm Meeting and presented her study in poster session. There were many interesting researches including those with non-C. elegans nematodes, further motivating us to our research.
Jun 21. 2025 Yoshida published a new paper in Journal of Nematology as a co-author [Link]. This is a result from the international collaborative work with Max Planck Institute, Germany.
Jun 19-20. 2025 Yoshida visited DANDRITE [Link], Aarhus University, Denmark and introduced our research in the symposium. It was impressive to see beautifully designed equipments for neouropathology in DANDRITE. BRI has agreements with DANDRITE to promote our collaborative researches in the future.
May 26. 2025 Yoshida published a column in the web magazine, Evergreen, from Niigata University. "The secret of genome evolution revealed in the small animal" in Japanese [Link]
May 15–16, 2025 We held the regular meeting of the JST CREST "Cell Control" Sugimoto Team at the BRI. In addition to progress reports from the PIs, 15 participants, including students and staff, gave poster presentations, which made very active discussion. We hope this will accelerate collaborative research!
Apr 17. 2025 Yoshida talked in the Niigata Medical Society and introduced advanced fields in evolutionary biology and our strategy to tackle evolutionary brain pathology.
April 16, 2025 An interview with Dr. Naoko Fujito was published on the Brain Research Institute's website. If you are interested in the work of researchers, please take a look. [Link]
Apr 1, 2025 Ms. Kozue Ishizuka has newly joined our lab as a technical assistant. We look forward to the further acceleration of our research.
Mar 26, 2025 We held a lab tour during the public event "Let’s Take a Look at the Human Brain and Mind." We presented an overview of evolutionary genomics and how it connects to research on brain diseases. It was a very enjoyable to talk with highly motivated students (from high school to university level).
Feb 5–6, 2025 We participated in the 14th Joint Symposium of the BRI, NIPS, and EHUB, held in Okazaki, Aichi. It was a valuable opportunity to hear about cutting-edge research all in one place.
Nov 8, 2024: A new paper was published in Nature Communications! It presents new findings on the evolution of sex determination in nematodes. [Link]
Oct 1, 2024: The CREST research project titled "Development of Innovative Chromosome Manipulation Techniques Using Nematode-Specific Chromosome Rearrangments" commenced! Together with Pr. Asako Sugimoto from Tohoku University, we are accelerating our research toward developing a versatile chromosome manipulation technology.
Jul 19, 2024: Congratulations to Dr. Naoko Fujito for receiving the Shiseido Women Researcher Science Grant! [Link]
Jul 12, 2024: We held a seminar with Dr. Chiaki Kambayashi (Assistant Professor) from Niigata University's Graduate School of Science and Technology [Link]. We plan to collaborate closely to promote evolutionary research at Niigata University.
Apr 1, 2024: Dr. Naoko Fujito (Associate Professor), Dr. Yuuki Ishita (Assistant Professor), and Ms. Akiko Nishida (Technical staff) joined the lab.
Jan 1, 2024: The Evolutionary Brain Pathology Laboratory (Yoshida Lab) was established. Alongside continuing Yoshida’s research on genomic diversity, we are pioneering the new field of evolutionary brain pathology!
Research
Research goal and projects
Nematodes?
Introduction of nematode diversity
Evolutionary Brain Pathology Laboratory, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University
1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Chuo-ku, 951-8585, Niigata, Japan
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