Atsushi Nakano

Atsushi Nakano is a Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research focuses on understanding the interplay between cardiovascular development and hematopoiesis, particularly the role of metabolic pathways in heart formation and endocardial-derived cell lineages. He investigates how environmental and genetic factors influence cardiac morphogenesis and disease mechanisms, employing cutting-edge techniques like lineage tracing and metabolic profiling.

• Affiliations: UCLA College of Letters and Science; David Geffen School of Medicine
• Grants: Principal Investigator for NIH R01 grants on metabolic regulation of heart formation (2019–2023), hemogenic endocardium contributions (2016–2020), and others.

His work bridges embryology and clinical cardiology, with recent emphasis on fetal metabolism in diabetic pregnancies and novel models of atrial fibrillation. Nakano collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on projects involving stem cell differentiation, computational biology, and translational medicine.