Date of Birth: March 5, 1975
Place of Birth: Hiroshima, Japan
Contact Address
Fumiyo Ikeda, PhD, DDS
Institute of Biochemistry II
Goethe University Medical School
University Hospital, Bldg 74
Theodor-Stern-Kai 7
D-60590 Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 6301 6298
E-Mail: ikeda@biochem2.de
Fumiyo Ikeda finished her study in dentistry and started basic research at biochemistry department in Osaka University Dental School with Prof. Toshiyuki Yoneda (by the supports of The Japan Scholarship Foundation and The Iwadare Scholarship Foundation). She studied to elucidate molecular mechanisms of bone destruction induced by inflammation during her PhD study. It is shown in her PhD thesis that the activation of JNK/c-Jun signaling in collaboration with NFAT in osteoclasts plays a critical role during osteoclast differentiation and bone destruction. She won 2 Young Investigator Awards (The American Society of Bone and Mineral Research) in 2003 for the studies on JNK/c-Jun/NFAT in osteoclasts both in vitro and in vivo.
After the PhD study, she joined Ivan Dikic’s Laboratory in Frankfurt University Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow (supported by the Uehara Memorial Foundation and the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung). Since then, she has been studying another inflammatory system, the interferon signaling in the innate immunity, especially the regulatory mechanism of activation of TBK1 and downstream via Tool-like receptor (TLR) and RNA-virus infection.
The focus of this group is on the interferon signaling via TLR and its relevance to cancer pathogenesis. The major goal is to elucidate the link between innate immunity and cancer.