Biography

2021-Present: Assistant Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

2018-2021: Postdoctoral Fellow (HFSP Postdoctoral Fellow), The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

2016-2017: Postdoctoral Fellow (EMBO Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellow), The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

2015-2016: Postdoctoral Fellow (JSPS Superlative Postdoctoral Fellow, SPD), The Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan

2010-2015: Graduate student, RIKEN (Joint Graduate School of Chiba University), Japan

Research Interest

  • Chronoception
  • Interoception
  • Neuromicrobiology

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

Symbiotic polyamine metabolism regulates epithelial proliferation and macrophage differentiation in the colon.
Nakamura A, Kurihara S, Takahashi D, Ohashi W, Nakamura Y, Kimura S, Onuki M, Kume A, Sasazawa Y, Furusawa Y, Obata Y, Fukuda S, Saiki S, Matsumoto M, Hase K, Nat Commun 2021 04 12 1 2105
Enteric glia as a source of neural progenitors in adult zebrafish.
McCallum S, Obata Y, Fourli E, Boeing S, Peddie CJ, Xu Q, Horswell S, Kelsh RN, Collinson L, Wilkinson D, Pin C, Pachnis V, Heanue TA, Elife 2020 08 9
Linking neurons to immunity: Lessons from Hydra.
Obata Y, Pachnis V, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020 08 117 33 19624-19626

Honors & Awards

  • Pew Biomedical Scholars
    (2023)
  • Welch Research Grants
    (2023)
  • UT Southwestern Endowed Scholar
    (2021)
  • HFSP Long-Term Fellowship
    (2017-2020)
  • EMBO Long-Term Fellowship
    (2016-2017)
  • Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists
    Inoue Foundation for Science (2016)
  • Ikushi Prize
    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (2015)
  • Superlative Postdoctoral Fellow (SPD)
    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (2015-2016)