Michiko Shimoda, PhD
Specialist
Michiko grew up in Hiroshima, Japan, and attended the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, for her undergraduate degree in Agricultural Chemistry. Her first lab job was working on projects with milk allergy & oral tolerance under Dr. Shuichi Kaminogawa and the late Dr. Kunio Yamauchi. During undergrad she enjoyed playing tennis and going skiing while generating a series of monoclonal antibodies to study the allergenic epitopes of milk proteins.
Following graduation, Michiko attended the University of Tokyo (Master’s and PhD course) for graduate school and completed her degree in Agricultural Biochemistry from Tokyo Agricultural and Technology University where she had a junior faculty position in Dr. Choemon Kanno’s lab. Her thesis was based on four publications on the mechanism of mucosal IgA memory B cell development, partly in collaboration with Dr. Toshi Takemori’s lab at National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan. During the grad thesis study, she had an incredible opportunity to work in the laboratory of the late Dr. Eli Sercarz at UCLA and Dr. Garnet Kelsoe at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The latter wonderful experience drove her to pursue her research career in the USA.
Since starting her career, Michiko studied humoral memory and B antigen presentation at RIKEN, Japan followed by Medical College of Georgia using unique genetically engineered mouse models. Most recently, Michiko was an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the UCD studying the role of viral IL-6 in KSHV infection and serving the co-director of Immune Monitoring Core at UCD Cancer Center overseeing immune assay projects including flow cytometry assays.
When not in the lab, Michiko can be found at home enjoying cleaning, gardening, or hiking around the neighborhood in Marin. She also loves pottery, tea, and classical music.
Following graduation, Michiko attended the University of Tokyo (Master’s and PhD course) for graduate school and completed her degree in Agricultural Biochemistry from Tokyo Agricultural and Technology University where she had a junior faculty position in Dr. Choemon Kanno’s lab. Her thesis was based on four publications on the mechanism of mucosal IgA memory B cell development, partly in collaboration with Dr. Toshi Takemori’s lab at National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan. During the grad thesis study, she had an incredible opportunity to work in the laboratory of the late Dr. Eli Sercarz at UCLA and Dr. Garnet Kelsoe at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The latter wonderful experience drove her to pursue her research career in the USA.
Since starting her career, Michiko studied humoral memory and B antigen presentation at RIKEN, Japan followed by Medical College of Georgia using unique genetically engineered mouse models. Most recently, Michiko was an Assistant Adjunct Professor at the UCD studying the role of viral IL-6 in KSHV infection and serving the co-director of Immune Monitoring Core at UCD Cancer Center overseeing immune assay projects including flow cytometry assays.
When not in the lab, Michiko can be found at home enjoying cleaning, gardening, or hiking around the neighborhood in Marin. She also loves pottery, tea, and classical music.