Dr Tomoko Hyakumura, Research Fellow
Tomoko is a postdoctoral researcher at Bionics Institute. Prior to joining Bionics Institute, she completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne investigating the potential of regenerating the auditory nerve using stem cells.
She joined Bionics Institute in 2018, taking part in the study of vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
Dr Hyakumura gained further preclinical research experience studying a range of unique neural signals from both the central and peripheral nervous system utilising novel electrode coating materials in collaboration with researchers at University of NSW.
Currently, she is involved in a number of different pre-clinical research projects including stimulation and recording from the cochlea and pelvic nerve, and vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of diabetes.
Recent publications:
Hyakumura T, Aregueta-Robles U, Duan W, Villalobos J, Adams WK, Poole-Warren L, Fallon JB. Improving Deep Brain Stimulation Electrode Performance in vivo Through Use of Conductive Hydrogel Coatings. Front Neurosci. 2021 Nov 5;15:761525. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.761525.
Payne SC, Ward G, MacIsaac RJ, Hyakumura T, Fallon JB, Villalobos J. Differential effects of vagus nerve stimulation strategies on glycemia and pancreatic secretions. Physiol Rep. 2020 Jun;8(11):e14479. doi: 10.14814/phy2.14479.
Hyakumura T, McDougall S, Finch S, Needham K, Dottori M, Nayagam BA. Organotypic Cocultures of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived-Neurons with Mammalian Inner Ear Hair Cells and Cochlear Nucleus Slices. Stem Cells Int. 2019 Nov 20;2019:8419493. doi: 10.1155/2019/8419493.
Payne SC, Furness JB, Burns O, Sedo A, Hyakumura T, Shepherd RK, Fallon JB. Anti-inflammatory Effects of Abdominal Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Experimental Intestinal Inflammation. Front Neurosci. 2019 May 8;13:418. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00418.
Payne SC, Burns O, Stebbing MJ, Thomas R, de Silva AC, Sedo A, Wiessenborn F, Hyakumura T, Huynh M, May CN, Williams RA, Furness J, Fallon JB, and Shepherd R. 2019. Vagus nerve stimulation to treat inflammatory bowel disease: a chronic, preclinical safety study in sheep. Bioelectronics in Medicine. 1(4): 235-250. doi: https://doi.org/10.2217/bem-2018-0011.
Needham K, Hyakumura T, Gunewardene N, Dottori M, Nayagam BA. Electrophysiological properties of neurosensory progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells. Stem Cell Res. 2014 Jan;12(1):241-9. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2013.10.011.
Hammond VE, Gunnersen JM, Goh CP, Low LH, Hyakumura T, Tang MM, Britto JM, Putz U, Howitt JA, Tan SS. Ndfip1 is required for the development of pyramidal neuron dendrites and spines in the neocortex. Cereb Cortex. 2014 Dec;24(12):3289-300. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht191.
