Kensuke Futai

Kensuke Futai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at UMass Chan Medical School, affiliated with the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the Brudnick Neuropsychiatric Research Institute. His research focuses on the roles of inhibitory neurons in neuropsychiatric diseases like schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders, emphasizing synaptic dysregulation and E/I balance restoration. He holds a PhD in Neurophysiology from the University of Tokyo and has been recognized by the Whitehall Foundation (2012-2015).

Education: BS and MS in Biology (Kyushu University, Japan), PhD in Neurophysiology (University of Tokyo).

Research interests include synaptic transmission mechanisms, neuroligin-neurexin signaling, and autism-related gene functions. His lab employs electrophysiology and molecular biology approaches, with recent work on neurexin genes and serotonin transmission in mouse models.

Publications span synaptic plasticity, chromatin regulation, and receptor trafficking, with a focus on hippocampal and cortical circuits. He advises graduate students and postdocs in neuropsychiatric disease research.