MURAKAMI LAB

Naoka Murakami, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis 

Naoka obtained MD and PhD in Biochemistry from University of Tokyo, Japan. She completed medical residency in Toranomon Hospital in Japan and in Mount Sinai Beth Israel, NY, then finished nephrology fellowship in BWH/MGH combined program in 2019. Her research focuses on the roles of co-stimulatory molecules (e.g. PD-1, CTLA-4) in autoimmune kidney diseases and transplant tolerance. Her clinical focus is to care for patients with cancer and kidney diseases, in an evolving field of “Transplant Onconephrology”. 

WashU Profile

Shinobu Smithson, BS

Staff Scientist

Shinobu brought her expertise in molecular and cellular biology, and experience in kidney research. She leads projects on immunotherapy-associated kidney injury using mouse models.

Hiroyuki Arai, MD, PhD 

Post doctoral scholar

Hiroyuki obtained MD and PhD degree in Kyoto University in Japan, and completed residency and nephrology fellowship in Kyoto University Hospital. His primary focus is on immuno-metabolism in kidney diseases.

Rohan Avula, BS 

Research Technician I

Rohan obtained Bachelor of Science in WashU in 2025. He joined Murakami to pursue his career in medicine. He had research background in Mechanical Engineering in
Srikanth Singamaneni lab, and also worked as a summer research scholar (PCEN program) at Maggie Chen lab, both at WashU.

Tomota Okabe, MD 

Visiting Scientist

Tomota obtained MD degree in Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University in Japan. He practices as a urologist to perform kidney transplantation. He brought in his expertise in mouse heart transplant model.