Wataru Koizumi is the Molecular Pharmacology Highlighted Trainee Author for the June 2023 issue. Currently, he is a pre-doctoral trainee at Fujifilm Wako Pure Chemical Corporation, Japan. His mentor is Kazuhiko Matsuda of Kindai University. The Molecular Pharmacology article that earned his selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Determinants of subtype-selectivity of the anthelmintic paraherquamide A on Caenorhabditis elegans nicotinic acetylcholine receptors” and is available at: https://doi.org/10.1124/molpharm.122.000601.

Mr. Koizumi is currently working on research and development on Cell Biology and Genomics reagents such as pathological stains and vector products. He also works on other reagents that aid cell culture, such as cytokines that promote animal cell differentiation and proliferation, cryopreservation solutions, and culture media. He is enthusiastic about contributing to human healthcare, including drug and reagent development for the future pandemic as he faced the covid 19 tragedy.   

The anticipated impact of Mr. Koizumi’s current research, paraherquamide appeared to act as a non-competitive antagonist on nematode nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), but he found it acts as a competitive antagonist. Also, Mr. Koizumi and colleagues identified structural features of nematode L-type nAChRs underpinning the selective action of the compound. These results should have an impact on the neuropharmacology of drugs acting on ligand-gated ion channels as if it acts as non-competitive ligands and help design new drugs acting selectively and potently on parasitic nematodes causing human, animal, and plant diseases.

Outside his work, Wataru enjoys musical interests and motorbike travel with friends.