Research Summary

My research focuses on nanobiotechnology based on semiconductor microfabrication technology and am engaged in research on techniques for analyzing biological phenomena and medical applications using micro- and nano-devices. In particular, through the development of analytical techniques for extracellular vesicles such as exosomes and biosensing devices, I have been promoting the application of engineering technologies in the medical and healthcare fields. In recent years, I have proposed a new research field called “Nursing Engineering,” which integrates engineering and nursing, and am conducting research aimed at improving the quality of care in a super-aging society and realizing sustainable medical and long-term care systems. I am also working to establish an international research hub based on industry-academia-government collaboration and to build an interdisciplinary research network.

Laboratory Website

https://bionano.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/

Biography

1990 Bachelor of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
1992 Master of Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
1995 Ph.D., School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
1995 JSPS Research Fellow (PD) (Affiliation: School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo)
1995~1998 Research Assistant, Department of Electric and Electronics Engineering, Toyo University
1998~2004 Associate Professor, Department of Electric and Electronics Engineering, Toyo University
2002~2006 Principal Investigator, JST-PRESTO
2004~2016 Associate Professor, Institute of Engineering Innovation, The University of Tokyo
2006~2016 Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, The University of Tokyo
2015~present Principal Research Scientist, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine, Institute of Industry Promotion-Kawasaki
(Research Director from 2022)
2016~present Professor, Department of Materials Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Major Awards

• Fellow, The Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP)
• Honda Memorial Young Researcher Award
• Special Award of the Selection Committee, Japan Open Innovation Prize
• Paper Award, International Conference on Solid State Devices and Materials (SSDM)

Selected Publications

• N. Seo and T. Ichiki, "Negative Surface Charge and Membrane Lipid Composition Underlying Extracellular Vesicle Function", ACS Nano Medicine, (2026).
• H. Fukuda, H. Kuramochi, Y. Shibuta, T. Ichiki, "Analysis of Brownian motion trajectories of non-spherical nanoparticles using deep learning", APL mach. learn. 1, 046104 (2023).
• N. Seo, J. Nakamura, T. Kaneda, et al., T. Ichiki, T, “Distinguishing functional exosomes and other extracellular vesicles as a nucleic acid cargo by the anion-exchange method”, J. Extracellular Vesicles 11, e12205 (2022)
• S. Matsumura, T. Minamisawa, K. Suga, et al., T. Ichiki, “Subtypes of tumour cell-derived small extracellular vesicles having differently externalized phosphatidylserine”, J. Extracellular Vesicles 8, 1579541 (2019)
• T. Akagi, K. Kato, M. Kobayashi, N. Kosaka, T. Ochiya, T. Ichiki, “On-chip immunoelectrophoresis of extracellular vesicles released from human breast cancer cells”, PLOS ONE 10, e0123603 (2015)
• R. Kobayashi, M. Biyani, S. Ueno, et al., T. Ichiki, “Temperature-controlled microintaglio printing for high-resolution micropatterning of RNA molecules”, Biosensors and Bioelectronics 67, 115–120 (2015)
• H. Takehara, A. Nagaoka, J. Noguchi, T. Akagi, H. Kasai, H., T. Ichiki, “Lab-on-a-brain: implantable micro-optical fluidic devices for neural cell analysis in vivo”, Sci. Rep. 4, 6721 (2014)