Circadian rhythmicity is a fundamental aspect of temporal organization in essentially every cell in the body, and modulates much of physiology, biochemistry, and behavior.  In order to maintain daily cycles, cell-autonomous circadian oscillators drive rhythmic expression of approximately 5-10% of mRNAs to ultimately drive a wide range of rhythmic biological processes. Disruption of the circadian clock can have a severe influence on human health, ranging from psychiatric disorders, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, to certain types of cancer.

We are interested in understanding 1) how the circadian clock regulates the rhythms of thousands of mRNAs and proteins with the correct period, phase, and amplitude; and 2) how circadian clock utilizes rhythmically expressed proteins to regulate rhythmic physiology and behavior.  We use the mouse as an animal model system and integrate diverse approaches – genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, neuroscience, molecular/cellular biology, and sometimes mathematical modeling – to answer these questions.

Kojima Lab is Inclusive.

We are all different creatures. Our lab welcomes anybody who is passionate about basic science research, regardless of your sex, gender, religion, ethnicity, country of origin, cultural background, political views, appearances, physical ability or any other characteristics.


What is new?

June 2023

The first Ph.D. baby of the lab was born! Congrats Dr. Unruh – we are very proud of you!

November 2022

Lin’s bioinformatics paper is now out! Huge thanks to undergraduate researchers (Kyle, Ayana, Ashlee, and Maisy) who worked the entire summar to analyze the data!

https://f1000research.com/articles/11-1073

June 2022

Juan Hernandez joined the lab as a lab tech. Welcome Juan!

Follow us on Twitter @Kojima_CircaLab for more news!