Two New Team Leaders Appointed at RIKEN BDR

Team Leader Konagaya heads the Laboratory for Quantitative Biology of Cell Fate Decision. Her team is interested in how cell proliferation and differentiation is controlled in tissues, particularly in tissues that undergo continuous renewal, such as the intestinal epithelium. Using in vivo mouse models and intestinal organoids models, they are carrying out multiplexed tissue imaging, automated high-throughput analyses and mathematical modeling to unveil mechanisms underlying cell cycle control during differentiation.

Team Leader Niitsu heads the Laboratory for Dynamic Biomolecule Design, and is interested in developing methods for designing biomolecules, such as membrane proteins and peptides, with controllable conformational dynamics by combining protein design and molecular simulation techniques. Her team hopes to uncover biomolecular functions of their designed molecules through experimental characterization and find applications for their designed biomolecules as tools in life science research.