Hirotake Komatsu, MD, PhD

Hirotake Komatsu earned his MD from Juntendo University School of Medicine. After accumulating over ten years of experience as a surgeon in Japan, he received his PhD from the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine in 2013. Before joining UCSF, he was a member at the Arthur Riggs Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute at the City of Hope Medical Center in the Department of Translational Research & Cellular Therapeutics for 10 years.

Dr. Komatsu’s laboratory focuses on developing minimally invasive approaches for cell transplantation, specifically beta cell replacement therapy with adult pancreatic islets and stem cell-derived cells to treat diabetes. In particular, his expertise lies in translational oxygenation approaches for improving cell survival.

He has published 32 peer-reviewed articles at the City of Hope, including 26 as the first or senior author. His accolades include the National Institutes of Health New Investigator Gateway Award and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Awards, among other private funds.