Yuki Obata, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

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

2016-2021: Postdoctoral Fellow (EMBO, HFSP Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellow), The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK

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

2010-2015: Graduate student, Graduate school of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan

• Chronoception
• Inter-organ Communication
• Interoception
• Intestinal Neural Circuits

Featured Publications

Molecular profiling of enteric nervous system cell lineages.

Obata Y, Castaño Á, Fallesen TL, Bon-Frauches AC, Boeing S, Huseynova A, McCallum S, Lasrado R, Heanue TA, Pachnis V, Nat Protoc 2022 Jun

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

Neuronal programming by microbiota regulates intestinal physiology.

Obata Y, Castaño Á, Boeing S, Bon-Frauches AC, Fung C, Fallesen T, de Agüero MG, Yilmaz B, Lopes R, Huseynova A, Horswell S, Maradana MR, Boesmans W, Vanden Berghe P, Murray AJ, Stockinger B, Macpherson AJ, Pachnis V, Nature 2020 02 578 7794 284-289

The Effect of Microbiota and the Immune System on the Development and Organization of the Enteric Nervous System.

Obata Y, Pachnis V, Gastroenterology 2016 11 151 5 836-844

Epithelial-stromal interaction via Notch signaling is essential for the full maturation of gut-associated lymphoid tissues.

Obata Y, Kimura S, Nakato G, Iizuka K, Miyagawa Y, Nakamura Y, Furusawa Y, Sugiyama M, Suzuki K, Ebisawa M, Fujimura Y, Yoshida H, Iwanaga T, Hase K, Ohno H, EMBO Rep 2014 Dec 15 12 1297-304

The epigenetic regulator Uhrf1 facilitates the proliferation and maturation of colonic regulatory T cells.

Obata Y, Furusawa Y, Endo TA, Sharif J, Takahashi D, Atarashi K, Nakayama M, Onawa S, Fujimura Y, Takahashi M, Ikawa T, Otsubo T, Kawamura YI, Dohi T, Tajima S, Masumoto H, Ohara O, Honda K, Hori S, Ohno H, Koseki H, Hase K, Nat Immunol 2014 Jun 15 6 571-9

Commensal microbe-derived butyrate induces the differentiation of colonic regulatory T cells.

Furusawa Y, Obata Y, Fukuda S, Endo TA, Nakato G, Takahashi D, Nakanishi Y, Uetake C, Kato K, Kato T, Takahashi M, Fukuda NN, Murakami S, Miyauchi E, Hino S, Atarashi K, Onawa S, Fujimura Y, Lockett T, Clarke JM, Topping DL, Tomita M, Hori S, Ohara O, Morita T, Koseki H, Kikuchi J, Honda K, Hase K, Ohno H, Nature 2013 Dec 504 7480 446-50

Epithelial cell-intrinsic Notch signaling plays an essential role in the maintenance of gut immune homeostasis.

Obata Y, Takahashi D, Ebisawa M, Kakiguchi K, Yonemura S, Jinnohara T, Kanaya T, Fujimura Y, Ohmae M, Hase K, Ohno H, J Immunol 2012 Mar 188 5 2427-36

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

Linking neurons to immunity: Lessons from Hydra.

Obata Y, Pachnis V, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020 08 117 33 19624-19626

• 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)