Hisashi Sawada, PhD

I received M.D. degree in 2008 and worked as a cardiologist for 7 years. In this period, I experienced many cases of aortic diseases including aneurysms and dissections. I became interested in the pathophysiology of aortic diseases, and started basic researches. I am particularly interested in the embryonic origins of smooth muscle cells in the ascending aorta. Smooth muscle cells in the ascending aorta are derived from two different embryonic origins, cardiac neural crest and second heart field. These origins show a distinct distribution and contribute to the pathophysiology of aortic diseases. I am investigating functional differences of these origins using proteomic and transcriptomic analyses in mice.