The RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology welcomed the arrival of three new principal investigators, Itoshi Nikaido, Wataru Kimura and Kazunari Miyamichi, over the past few months.

Nikaido was appointed Unit Leader of the Single-cell Omics Research Unit in July. He holds a concurrent position as head of the Bioinformatics Research Unit of RIKEN Advanced Center for Computing and Communication (ACCC), where he has been working on developing new methodologies and software for analyzing RNA and DNA sequencing data. At CDB, he aims to strengthen collaborations with labs both within and outside the Center to develop innovative approaches to perturb and measure biological phenomena at the single-cell level.

Kimura and Miyamichi received their appointments in September as Team Leader of the Laboratory for Heart Regeneration and the Laboratory for Comparative Connectomics, respectively. Kimura’s research interest lies in understanding the mechanisms underlying the regenerative capacity of cardiomyocytes. His laboratory aims to reveal the molecular mechanisms involved in regulating the cardiomyocyte cell cycle, as well as explore potential applications for regenerative medicine. Miyamichi has been exploring the neural circuitry that underlies various behavioral patterns, such as sexual behavior, reproduction, and unique states such as parturition and lactation, using the mouse model. At the CDB, he will strive to systematically map and understand the sexual dimorphism of the connectome, in addition to gaining a comprehensive understanding of the developmental process and function of the neural circuitry.

With these recent appointments, the CDB is now home to 22 laboratories.