Marsico Lung Institute/Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Dr. Okuda obtained his M.D. degree from Yamagata University in Japan and completed residency training in internal medicine, followed by a fellowship in respiratory medicine. He then pursued postdoctoral training in Dr. Richard Boucher’s laboratory at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, where he characterized regional expression patterns of major airway secretory mucins, MUC5AC/MUC5B, and CFTR/ionocytes in normal and CF human airways. This work culminated in the completion of his Ph.D. degree in medicine from The University of Tokyo in Japan. During his research, Dr. Okuda developed microdissection techniques to selectively isolate small airway tissues, enabling the generation of small airway epithelial cell/explant cultures for studying small airway-specific biology and physiology. These techniques have been integral to numerous collaborative projects nationwide, including the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP). In 2021, Dr. Okuda was promoted to an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine at UNC at Chapel Hill. His long-term career goal is to serve as a professional investigator, dedicated to comprehensively understanding the mucociliary clearance system in the lungs and contributing to improved prognoses for all patients with muco-obstructive lung diseases, including CF.
W03--New Insights Regarding CFTR Basic Biology & Implications for Future Therapeutics
Thursday, September 26, 2024
10:15 AM – 12:15 PM ET