Teppei Fujikawa, Ph.D.

Teppei Fujikawa, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and a member of the Hypothalamic Research Center.

Originally from Osaka, Japan, Dr. Fujikawa earned his postdoctorate degree in physiology and nutrition at Kyoto University. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with He completed the postdoctoral training with Drs. Roberto Coppari (Geneva University) and Joel K. Elmquist at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Fujikawa joined the UT Southwestern faculty as an Instructor in the Department of Internal Medicine in 2014. After working as an Assistant Professor of Physiology at UT Health San Antonio, Dr. Fujikawa returned to UT Southwestern as an Assistant Professor in 2021.

Dr. Fujikawa has been investigating the neuronal mechanism underlying the central regulation of metabolism. In particular, his focus is on how exercise and physical activity can modulate hypothalamic functions and the beneficial effects of exercise.

Undergraduate

Kyoto University - Japan (2003), Agriculture

Graduate School

Kyoto University - Japan (2008), Physiology

• Glucoregulatory Actions of Leptin
• Metabolic Adaptations to Exercise
• The Central Regulation of Metabolic Homeostasis

Featured Publications

NURR1 activation in skeletal muscle controls systemic energy homeostasis.

Amoasii L, Sanchez-Ortiz E, Fujikawa T, Elmquist JK, Bassel-Duby R, Olson EN, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2019 May

P110? in the ventromedial hypothalamus regulates glucose and energy metabolism.

Fujikawa T, Choi YH, Yang DJ, Shin DM, Donato J, Kohno D, Lee CE, Elias CF, Lee S, Kim KW, Exp. Mol. Med. 2019 Apr 51 4 52

Glucose-Lowering by Leptin in the Absence of Insulin Does Not Fully Rely on the Central Melanocortin System in Male Mice.

Singha AK, Yamaguchi J, Gonzalez NS, Ahmed N, Toney GM, Fujikawa T, Endocrinology 2019 03 160 3 651-663

SF-1 expression in the hypothalamus is required for beneficial metabolic effects of exercise.

Fujikawa T, Castorena CM, Pearson M, Kusminski CM, Ahmed N, Battiprolu PK, Kim KW, Lee S, Hill JA, Scherer PE, Holland WL, Elmquist JK Elife 2016 Nov 5

Living without insulin: the role of leptin signaling in the hypothalamus.

Fujikawa T, Coppari R Front Neurosci 2015 9 108

Leptin engages a hypothalamic neurocircuitry to permit survival in the absence of insulin.

Fujikawa T, Berglund ED, Patel VR, Ramadori G, Vianna CR, Vong L, Thorel F, Chera S, Herrera PL, Lowell BB, Elmquist JK, Baldi P, Coppari R Cell Metab. 2013 Sep 18 3 431-44

SIRT1 deacetylase in SF1 neurons protects against metabolic imbalance.

Ramadori G, Fujikawa T, Anderson J, Berglund ED, Frazao R, Michán S, Vianna CR, Sinclair DA, Elias CF, Coppari R Cell Metab. 2011 Sep 14 3 301-12

Leptin therapy improves insulin-deficient type 1 diabetes by CNS-dependent mechanisms in mice.

Fujikawa T, Chuang JC, Sakata I, Ramadori G, Coppari R Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2010 Oct 107 40 17391-6

SIRT1 deacetylase in POMC neurons is required for homeostatic defenses against diet-induced obesity.

Ramadori G, Fujikawa T, Fukuda M, Anderson J, Morgan DA, Mostoslavsky R, Stuart RC, Perello M, Vianna CR, Nillni EA, Rahmouni K, Coppari R Cell Metab. 2010 Jul 12 1 78-87

• UT Rising STARs Award
  UT Health Science Center San Antonio (2018)