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Physiology
Yamaka Kosuke

Kosuke Yamaka, ME, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Locations

  • Physiology, MCW
  • BSB 5355A

Contact Information

Education

PhD, Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan, 2025
MD, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan, 2015

Honors and Awards

2026: AJP-Renal Physiology Top-Scoring Postdoctoral Oral Presentation Award, APS Control of Renal Function in Health and Disease
2023: The Hikawa Forum Best Presentation Award, Fall 2023
2023: The Hikawa Forum Best Presentation Award, Spring 2023

Research Interests

I received my medical training in Japan and subsequently practiced as a nephrologist, caring for patients with hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and a broad range of renal disorders. Through this clinical experience, I became increasingly interested in how disturbances in renal metabolism and fluid and electrolyte homeostasis contribute to the development and progression of hypertension and kidney disease. My previous basic research focused on the consequences of impaired renal fatty acid metabolism, with particular emphasis on the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). Using a proximal tubule-specific PPARα-deficient mouse model under metabolic stress, I demonstrated that reduced renal PPARα activity promotes lipid accumulation and lipotoxicity, thereby exacerbating kidney injury. I also showed that metabolic dysfunction originating in the kidney can influence lipotoxicity in distant organs, including the liver and heart. These findings shaped my broader interest in the kidney as both a target and a potential driver of systemic metabolic disease. In parallel, my clinical research has explored the relationship between sphingolipids and kidney disease, including the role of sulfatide, a glycosphingolipid, in renal pathology. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Allen W. Cowley Jr. at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where I investigate the renal mechanisms underlying salt-sensitive hypertension. My work integrates transcriptomics, metabolomics, spatial lipidomics, and renal physiology to distinguish adaptive from maladaptive responses to high salt intake in the renal cortex. Recent analyses have identified renal metabolic pathways, including sphingolipid metabolism, as candidate molecular responses associated with salt-sensitive hypertension, and I am working to define their mechanistic and physiological significance. My long-term research interests lie at the intersection of renal metabolism, hypertension, and kidney disease. By integrating my clinical perspective as a nephrologist with mechanistic and physiological approaches, I hope to advance our understanding of how metabolic pathways contribute to renal and cardiovascular disease.

Publications

Publications of Kosuke Yamaka from the Faculty Collaboration Database

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