Yuzuro Sasamoto, MD, PhD joins research faculty

Yuzuru Sasamoto, MD. PhD has joined the faculty as an assistant professor and will have a lab in the Vision Science Center at South Lake Union.  

Dr. Sasamoto studies corneal regeneration using techniques such as direct reprogramming, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and limbal progenitor cells.

He is currently working on the comprehensive characterization of ocular surface epithelium from conjunctiva to cornea. Ultimately, the lab’s focus is on the discovery of new therapies that could benefit those who are affected by corneal disease.

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Dr. Sasamoto received his MD from Osaka University Medical School in Japan. After completing his medical training in ophthalmology, he received a PhD from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in 2016. He joined the Frank lab at Harvard in 2016 and opened his NIH-funded lab at Boston University in 2022. His wife, Naoko, is an epidemiologist doing ovarian cancer research at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and they have three children. In his free time, he enjoys table tennis.