Daiki Mori is the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Highlighted Trainee Author for the May 2020 issue. Mr. Mori was a pre-doctoral trainee in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tokyo, Japan at the time he was working on his manuscript. His mentor was Dr. Hiroyuki Kusuhara. Mr. Mori is now working at Astellas Pharma Inc. The Drug Metabolism and Disposition article that earned his selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Alteration in the Plasma Concentrations of Endogenous Organic Anion-Transporting Polypeptide 1B Biomarkers in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Paclitaxel” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.119.089474.

Mr. Mori’s area of research is transporter-mediated drug-drug interaction (DDI) and endogenous biomarkers to quantitatively assess the DDI risk of new chemical entities clinically. His research especially focuses on the organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B (OATP1B) family transporters; these multi-specific organic anion transporters mediate the hepatic uptake of various anionic drugs. Some endogenous substrates such as coproporphyrin I and glycochenodeoxycholate-3-sulfate are reported as OATP1B biomarkers, and he has been working to elucidate their properties and clinical application. In his article, he shows a potential for OATP1B-mediated DDI of paclitaxel prospectively using these endogenous biomarkers.

The anticipated impact of Mr. Mori’s research is that it will lead to the utilization of endogenous OATP1B biomarkers to quantitatively assess OATP1B-mediated DDI risk without the administration of probe drugs in clinical settings.

Outside of work, Daiki enjoys sports, especially tennis, soccer, and running with his friends and colleagues.  He also enjoys spending time at a café reading books.