Welcome Noboru Sasaki – LE STUDIUM Research Fellow

Welcome Noboru Sasaki – LE STUDIUM Research Fellow

From Hokkaido University (Japan)

Dr. Noboru Sasaki is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, where he has been developing innovative ultrasound-mediated technologies for drug delivery and tissue stimulation. After earning his Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine with high honors in 2012, Dr. Sasaki deepened his expertise at the Imaging Division of UMC Utrecht (The Netherlands), where he explored mechanisms and protocols of ultrasound-assisted delivery for therapeutic macromolecules. His research journey bridges veterinary medicine, imaging, and biomedical engineering, with the shared goal of improving therapeutic efficiency and precision.
 

Project: Microbubble-assisted ultrasound, a tool for depicting and disrupting blood vessels

Despite progress in drug development, many diseases remain difficult to treat effectively due to biological barriers such as the endothelial and blood-brain barriers. Dr. Sasaki’s project explores microbubble-assisted ultrasound (MB-US) as a promising, non-invasive approach to overcome these limitations. By activating microbubbles with ultrasound, vascular permeability can be transiently increased, facilitating the targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules directly to diseased tissues. During his LE STUDIUM residency, in collaboration with Jean-Michel Escoffre at iBrain (INSERM, University of Tours), Dr. Sasaki aims to decipher — using 3D cell culture models — how MB-US affects endothelial barrier dynamics and molecular transport. This research will provide new insights into the mechanisms of ultrasound-mediated drug delivery, paving the way for more effective and safer treatments in both human and veterinary medicine.

LE STUDIUM Loire Valley Institute for Advanced Studies proudly welcomes Dr. Noboru Sasaki to the international scientific community in Tours, fostering new collaborations between France and Japan in the field of biomedical ultrasound and targeted therapies