Tomoo Iwakuma, MD, PhD

Dr. Iwakuma received an MD at Kyushu University in Japan, majoring in Orthopedics. He received his PhD at the Department of Biochemistry at the same university. He spent several years as a research fellow studying gene therapy, pharmacology, and molecular genetics in different laboratories. Following postdoctoral training at the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, he joined LSU, Department of Genetics/Cancer Center, as an assistant professor as of August 15, 2005. He transitioned to the University of Kansas Medical Center in 2011, and to Children's Mercy Research Institute in 2020.

Dr. Iwakuma's primary research focuses on the field of cancer research, specifically on cancer progression including liver cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and bone and soft tissue sarcoma. Over 50 percent of human cancers have mutations in the tumor suppressor p53 which regulates cell cycle progression, cell death, senescence, chromosome integrity, DNA repair, metabolism and metastasis. Therefore, understanding of the pathway involved in the regulation of p53 is essential for discovering novel cancer therapies. With special focus on the tumor suppressor p53 pathway, Dr. Iwakuma dissects the mechanism of cancer progression using several mouse models, attempts to discover novel compounds to target the p53 pathway and applies disease models to translational research, to ultimately cure cancer.

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