Watch the interview here: https://youtu.be/7wgKqnRtqOE
Highlight: In this Onlife interview, Dr Sadoshima, provides new exclusive insights into results obtained by his Leducq-Network, which aims to investigate the role of autophagy in various cardiovascular conditions. Furthermore, he provides personal insights into how he develops new ideas and research strategies.
Biography: Dr Sadoshima graduated from Kyushu University School of Medicine in Fukuoka, Japan, and received his MD/PhD in 1990. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. His research focuses on autophagy, the Hippo pathway, and redox-sensitive signalling mechanisms. He received first prize for the AHA’s Katz Basic Science Research Prize (1995); first prize for the AHA Cardiovascular Research Prize (2001); the ISHR Janice Pfeffer Distinguished Lecture Award (2010); the AHA Thomas Smith Memorial Lecture Award (2014); the BCVS Distinguished Investigator Award (2017). He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He is an Associate Editor of Cardiovascular Research, Autophagy and two other journals, and an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. He is a North American coordinator of the Leducq Transatlantic Network, focusing on autophagy in the heart. He dedicates himself to the training of young scientists, and his trainees have received numerous awards.
Summary of interview
In this Onlife interview, Dr Sadoshima describes autophagy as a key cellular mechanism for the degradation of intracellular components. This includes not only proteins or lipid droplets, but also whole organelles, such as mitochondria. On the other hand, he explains how dysregulated autophagy may contribute to the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases.
Dr Sadoshima also provides new exclusive insights into results obtained by his Leducq-Network, which aims to investigate the role of autophagy in various cardiovascular conditions. In particular, he highlights the therapeutic potential of small molecules that stimulate autophagy and may thereby prevent cardiac dysfunction during ageing and in response to myocardial ischaemia. Furthermore, he suggests that activating autophagy may represent a promising therapeutic approach for patients with heart failure or diabetic cardiomyopathy.
For over two decades, Dr Sadoshima has worked as an extremely successful scientist, investigating innovative topics. He provides some personal insights on how he develops new ideas and research strategies. In particular, he highlights the importance of basic science meetings—not only as a source of scientific inspiration, but also as an important place for scientific exchange and interaction.
Professor Niels Voigt from the University of Göttingen in Germany, interviews Professor Junichi Sadoshima, Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in New Jersey (USA).
Conflict of interest: none declared.
Funding
N.V. is supported by the DZHK, by the DFG (DFG VO 1568/3-1, IRTG1816 RP12, CRC1002 A13) and by the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Stiftung (EKFS 2016_A20). J.S. is supported by the U.S. Public Health Service grants HL067724, HL091469, HL112330, HL138720, and AG023039 and the Leducq Foundation Transatlantic Network of Excellence 15CBD04.