Kohei Kume

Kohei Kume is a Research Scientist at Yale University in the laboratory of Markus Müschen, part of the Yale School of Medicine. He holds appointments in the Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology and is affiliated with the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology. His research focuses on understanding oncogenic signaling mechanisms in B-cell malignancies, particularly the role of autonomous Ca²⁺ oscillations and metabolic pathways in leukemia and lymphoma progression.

Dr. Kume completed his PhD at Iwate University (2011) and postdoctoral training at Iwate Medical University before joining the Müschen Lab at City of Hope in 2017. He currently investigates therapeutic vulnerabilities in B-cell cancers using optogenetic tools, proteogenomic profiling, and systems biology approaches. His work spans topics like drug resistance, cellular oscillations, and host immunity’s role in cancer survival.

Key research areas include:
• B-cell malignancies (leukemia/lymphoma)
• Oncogenic signaling pathways (BCR, STAT5, MYC/BCL6 dynamics)
• Metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells
• Development of targeted therapies using small molecules and optogenetics

Notable honors include multiple ASH Abstract Achievement Awards (2017–2021), grants from The Japan Prize Foundation (2012), and the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant (2009). His lab collaborates extensively with teams at Yale and globally, advancing translational research from bench to clinical applications.