Affiliation: Division of Physiology, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University

Professor Yoshiko Kawai began her career as a plastic surgeon specializing in lymphedema and lymphangioma before transitioning to physiology to advance research on lymphatic system function. She is currently a professor in the Department of Physiology at Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, where her research focuses on microcirculation, particularly lymphatic circulation. Her work includes isolating and culturing human lymphatic endothelial cells to study their molecular mechanisms, as well as functional analysis of GATA2, a key gene in lymphatic vessel development and maintenance. Using genetically modified mice, she investigates lymphatic vessel recanalization after lymph node removal and the role of the GATA gene family in regulating the extracellular environment, including collagen dynamics.

Recently, her basic research on recanalization has expanded into clinical collaborations to explore the causes of primary lymphedema and develop therapies for secondary lymphedema. As Guest Editor, she brings expertise bridging basic lymphatic biology with clinical translation.