| Masahiro Fujita, M.D.
Dr. Masahiro Fujita is a Staff Scientist for the PET Imaging Section, Molecular Imaging Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Fujita received MD in 1987 and PhD in 1992 both from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. He also completed residency of radiology in 1993 and nuclear medicine in 1995, both at Osaka University Hospital, Japan. During these periods, Dr. Fujita had training in both in vitro neuroanatomical experiments and neuroreceptor imaging in addition to clinical nuclear medicine and radiology. In 1995, Dr. Fujita began further post-doctoral training in neuroreceptor imaging at the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, and became an Assistant Professor in 1999. He joined NIMH in 2002. Dr. Fujita specializes in evaluation of new positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography radioligands to image brain neurotransmission systems. For the evaluation, he uses rodents, nonhuman primates, and human subjects and applies both in vivo and in vitro techniques. In vivo techniques include pharmacological drug challenge studies and pharmacokinetic analyses. In vitro techniques include autoradiography and homogenate binding assays. In addition to evaluation of new radioligands using normal animals and human subjects, he explorers application to psychiatric and neurological disorders by preparing rodent models and also applying receptor imaging techniques to patients with these disorders. Targets of imaging are not limited to neurotransmitter receptors and transporters. Release of neurotransmitters and intracellular signal transduction systems are also targeted, which have not been explored as much as receptors and transporters. |
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