Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD
- Director for Commercial Innovation, Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Research and Medicine (CuSTOM)
- Endowed Chair of Organoid Medicine
- Associate Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
- Professor, Institute of Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan
About
Biography
In 2010, I spent time as a surgical intern at one of the world’s leading liver transplant centers. There, I met many patients with life-threatening illnesses who were unlikely to live long enough to receive lifesaving donor organs.
This experience motivated me to find alternative approaches to traditional transplantation. Specifically, I’m focused on developing an “in-a-dish” engineering strategy for directing complex hepatogenesis from human stem cells.
Living systems have an amazing power to develop. Our work aims to “nudge” nature's ability to grow into organs. My ultimate goal is to save children in need of a new liver through the development of organoids — stem-cell-derived miniature organs. Organoid technology allows for the study of drug development and transplant applications otherwise impossible.
My team and I have been successful in designing complex miniature organs in a dish from pluripotent stem cells, for example, by integration of vascular, mesenchymal and immune components into human liver organoids. Most notably, while studying early liver development, we engineered human stem cells into multi-organs composed of hepato-biliary-pancreatic tissue with interconnected structures.
For my work, I have been honored with the Japan Academy Medal and the Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Award from The New York Stem Cell Foundation.
At Cincinnati Children’s, I serve as director for commercial innovation within the Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Research and Medicine (CuSTOM). I am also on the faculty within the Institute of Research at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Japan.
I serve on the board of directors for the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and the editorial boards for Stem Cell Reports, Hepatology and Cell Reports Medicine.
I greatly enjoy the work I do and invite anyone who’s interested to follow along virtually with our activities.
Interests
Hepatology; transplantation
Services and Specialties
Gastroenterology GI
Interests
Organoid; organogenesis; stem cell biology; transplantation; drug development
Research Areas
Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, Developmental Biology
Publications
Intercellular mRNA transfer alters the human pluripotent stem cell state. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA. 2025; 122:e2413351122.
In toto biological framework: Modeling interconnectedness during human development. Developmental Cell. 2025; 60:8-20.
Organoid-guided precision hepatology for metabolic liver disease. Journal of Hepatology. 2024; 80:805-821.
Complement factor D targeting protects endotheliopathy in organoid and monkey models of COVID-19. Cell Stem Cell. 2023; 30:1315-1330.e10.
En masse organoid phenotyping informs metabolic-associated genetic susceptibility to NASH. Cell. 2022; 185:4216-4232.e16.
Mammalian enteral ventilation ameliorates respiratory failure. Med. 2021; 2:773-783.e5.
Building consensus on definition and nomenclature of hepatic, pancreatic, and biliary organoids. Cell Stem Cell. 2021; 28:816-832.
High-Fidelity Drug-Induced Liver Injury Screen Using Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Organoids. Gastroenterology. 2021; 160:831-846.e10.
Single cell transcriptomics identifies a signaling network coordinating endoderm and mesoderm diversification during foregut organogenesis. Nature Communications. 2020; 11:4158.
Polygenic architecture informs potential vulnerability to drug-induced liver injury. Nature Medicine. 2020; 26:1541-1548.
From the Blog
In Rodents, New Human “Multi-Zonal” Liver Organoids Improve Injury Survival
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD4/16/2025
Takebe Receives Vilcek Foundation Award for Creative Promise
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD2/6/2024
Engineered Organoids Might Serve as Bridge to Liver Transplantation in Severe Jaundice
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD10/23/2023
Human Vascular Organoids Reveal Clues for a Potential COVID Treatment
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD10/5/2023
Why Type 2 Diabetes Leads to Liver Damage for Some, Not Others
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD10/13/2022
POLYseq Tool Sharply Improves Barcoding in Single-Cell Analysis
Takanori Takebe, MD, PhD8/26/2021
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