ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2024
The Emerging Generation Awards (E-Gen Awards) recognize post-MD, pre-faculty appointment physician-scientists who are meaningfully engaged in immersive research.
About the awardee
Mitsukuni Yoshida, MD, PhD, serves as a clinical fellow in anesthesiology at Washington University in Saint Louis, specializing in pain medicine. Dr. Yoshida aspires to be a pioneering physician-scientist, developing an approach to modulate the host immune system to prevent the development and alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain. His broader interests encompass the intersections of aging, metabolism, and neuroscience. He delves into these areas through clinical observations, analyses of human biospecimens, and rigorous basic scientific investigations.
Before embarking on his clinical training, Dr. Yoshida worked under Dr. Sohail Tavazoie, researching microRNA and its downstream genetic implications for cancer metastasis using xenograft models. He earned both his MD and PhD from Washington University in St. Louis, as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. Together with his PhD mentor, Dr. Shin-ichiro Imai, he uncovered a groundbreaking mechanism of systemic NAD+ biosynthesis and its significance in aging and longevity. Dr. Yoshida's academic excellence was recognized with the Dr. Philip Needleman Pharmacology Prize and Williams D. Owens Anesthesiology Research Fellowship. Additionally, he was a finalist for the Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation.
Dr. Yoshida continued his journey at Washington University in St. Louis, enrolling in the Academic Scholars Advancement Program (ASAP) during his Anesthesiology Residency. ASAP is a unique, accelerated training initiative that seamlessly merges residency, clinical fellowship, and research. Throughout his residency, Dr. Yoshida spearheaded scientific investigations in Dr. Rajendra Apte's Laboratory. Leading a team of scientists, he delved into numerous projects exploring the role of the immune system in age-related diseases.
Dr. Yoshida’s current work employs state-of-the-art technologies, including single-cell analysis, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, and humanized mice, to gain a deeper understanding of the molecular, cellular, and tissue mechanisms of aging. He aims to uncover their role in the development of diseases, such as chronic pain, in elderly patients.