Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine - 2021 Early Career Researcher Prize

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine extends congratulations to the first-ever winner of the Early Career Researcher Prize, Dr. Kanae Yamada of Gunma University. The prize was awarded to Dr. Yamada in consideration of the following 2021 article: “In vitro assessment of antitumor immune responses using tumor antigen proteins produced by transgenic silkworms (this opens in a new tab).” Read our interview with Dr. Yamada below. 

Please tell us briefly about yourself, your background/experience, and research interests.

I am currently working for a drug-related company and am engaged in various business including as drug marketing, clinical and non-clinical testing. Prior to working for a company, I had four years of undergraduate and two years of graduate education at Gunma University, Japan. I had the opportunity to learn about various fields, mainly chemistry and biology. During the final year of the undergraduate program and the two years of the graduate school, I purified the recombinant cancer antigen produced by transgenic silkworm, and measured the response of the immune cells prepared from the blood samples of cancer patients. Since recombinant proteins produced in TG silkworm were free from contain endotoxin, they were suitable as antigens for studying the reactivity of immune cells. Research on papers published in JMSM was performed during this three years.

What inspired you to pursue your field/s of interest? 

In the past, production of silkworm and silk was a major industry in Japan, especially in Gunma where I live. Silk was an important export item for getting foreign money. However, silkworm production is now on the decline. The technology of silkworm breeding was the trigger for my research for the production of new substance development. In other words, I was inspired by the history of Gunma and joined in the TG silkworm study.

What ongoing or recent projects have you been most excited about? Any recent publications?

I expect that TG silkworm is extremely important as an endotoxin-free recombinant protein production system. The production of several biomaterials for transplantation using silkworm sounds very exciting to me. 

A few of the most recent publications related to this research are:

• Dynamic alterations of circulating T lymphocytes and the clinical response in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with nivolumab. Tada H, Takahashi H, Yamada K, Masuda K, Nagata Y, Uchida M, Shino M, Ida S, Mito I, Matsuyama T, Oyama T, Tatematsu KI, Sezutsu H, Takeda S, Chikamatsu K. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2022;71:851-863. doi: 10.1007/s00262-021-03042-y. 
• In vitro assessment of antitumor immune responses using tumor antigen proteins produced by transgenic silkworms. Yamada K, Masuda K, Ida S, Tada H, Bando M, Abe K, Tatematsu KI, Sezutsu H, Oyama T, Chikamatsu K, Takeda S. J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2021;17;32:58. doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06526-6.
• Melanoma antigen family A4 protein produced by transgenic silkworms induces antitumor immune responses. Motokawa Y, Kokubo M, Kuwabara N, Tatematsu KI, Sezutsu H, Takahashi H, Sakakura K, Chikamatsu K, Takeda S. Exp Ther Med. 2018;15:2512-2518. doi: 10.3892/etm.2018.5703.

What would you consider your top highlights of your career thus far?

The TG silkworm project in the graduate school was performed in both the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Medicine and was supported by several local institutions. My involvement in this research together with many people at the several laboratories was important for building my career.

What would you consider some of the main challenges facing early-career researchers?

The most of young scientists may need to consider finding research ideas, appropriate methods and opportunities to implement them, and so on. I also suppose they would need the suitable support or assistance.

What next goals are you setting your sights on for the future?

My next goal is to be able to have my own opinion and express it with responsibly in the current organization. I am paying attention to TG silkworm research, but I am not in a situation where I will fight to it as my own research.

What advice, if any, would you provide to early-career researchers?

I recognize that by myself I'm not in a position to provide advice, but to receive advice. What I keep in mind is; challenge without fear of any failure, never give up, be optimistic, and so on.