Tatsuki Mochizuki is the Drug Metabolism and Disposition Highlighted Trainee Author for the January 2021 issue. Mr. Mochizuki is a pre-doctoral trainee in the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Tokyo, Japan.  His mentor is Dr. Hiroyuki Kusuhara. The Drug Metabolism and Disposition article that earned his selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Functional Investigation of Solute Carrier Family 35, Member F2, in Three Cellular Models of the Primate Blood-Brain Barrier” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.120.000115 .

Mr. Mochizuki’s area of research is drug transport mechanism across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), especially focusing on transporters mediating drug influx into the central nervous system (CNS). In his article, he shows SLC35F2 function as a drug influx transporter in three cellular models of the primate BBB and he also mentions species differences in drug transport across the BBB. In addition, he currently studies risk assessment of transporter-mediated drug-drug interactions (DDI) utilizing endogenous biomarkers of OATP1Bs.

The anticipated impact of Mr. Mochizuki’s research is that it will contribute to an improved understanding of the drug transport mechanisms in the BBB and to the construction of better drug development strategies for brain targeting or avoiding CNS side effects.

When not in the lab, Tatsuki enjoys playing tennis and drinking beer and Japanese sake with his colleagues.