University of California San Francisco

Hirotake Komatsu, MD, PhD

Hirotake Komatsu, MD, PhD
Hirotake
Komatsu
MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Transplant Surgery

Address

513 Parnassus Avenue HSE, #525A
San Francisco, CA 94143
United States

Email: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0003-0876-4809

Biography

Dr. Komatsu is a surgeon-scientist whose research focuses on regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and cell transplantation. His work integrates quantitative cell physiology with biomimetic and engineering approaches to address fundamental barriers in cell therapy, particularly hypoxia-driven graft loss during the early post-transplant period.

He received his MD from Juntendo University School of Medicine and his PhD in Molecular Biology from Tohoku University. He conducted postdoctoral and faculty-level research at the Arthur Riggs Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope before joining the University of California, San Francisco. His laboratory leads multidisciplinary efforts spanning transplantation biology, engineering, and stem cell science, with a primary focus on beta cell replacement therapy for diabetes.

Education

Institution Degree Dept or School End Date
Tohoku University, Graduate School of Medicine Ph.D. Molecular Biology 09/2013
Juntendo University School of Medicine M.D. Medicine 03/2002

Collaboration Interests

I am interested in academic and industry collaborations focused on regenerative medicine and cell-based therapies for diabetes, particularly pancreatic islet and stem cell-derived islet transplantation. My research centers on understanding and engineering the oxygen microenvironment to improve survival and function of three-dimensional tissues and grafts. I welcome collaborations in bioengineering, biomaterials, and device development, including oxygen delivery systems, implantable platforms, and advanced culture technologies for organoids. I am also interested in translational and preclinical studies aimed at improving engraftment and clinical outcomes in extrahepatic transplantation sites such as the subcutaneous space. In addition, I am open to cross-disciplinary collaborations involving computational modeling, imaging-based analysis, and clinical research to bridge in vitro findings with in vivo and clinical applications.

I am interested in:

  • academic collaboration
  • multicenter clinical research
  • companies and entrepreneurs
  • press

Grants and Funding

  • Scalable and transplantable pancreatic islet organoids with engineered oxygenation | NIH | 2025-09-01 - 2029-08-31 | Role: PI
  • Cure of Diabetes | Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation Grant | 2024-07-01 - 2028-06-30 | Role: PI
  • Development of an Oxygen-Permeable Culture Platform for 3D Cell Models | Mitsui Chemicals | 2025-08-01 - 2026-07-31 | Role: PI
  • Sequential multi-molecule release from nanofiber scaffolds for improved stem cell-derived islet transplantation under the skin | Breakthrough T1D (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, JDRF) | 2023-08-01 - 2026-07-31 | Role: PI
  • Non-invasive immunoimaging of islet transplant rejection | Breakthrough T1D (formerly Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, JDRF) | 2023-06-01 - 2026-05-31 | Role: Co-I
  • Cure of Diabetes | Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation Grant | 2020-07-01 - 2024-06-30 | Role: PI
  • Vascular Network-mimetic Oxygen-transporting Mesh for Islet Graft | NIH | 2021-07-01 - 2023-04-30 | Role: PI

Publications

MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 10
  1. Advances in Beta-cell Replacement Therapy for Diabetes-Insights From the 20th International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association (IPITA) World Congress, Pisa, 2025.
    Rao JS, Barra JM, Parmentier C, Chaudhry A, Doherty D, Komatsu H, Mitsugashira H, Citro A, Nijhoff MF, Piemonti L, Scholz H| | PubMed
  2. Enhanced hypoxia resistance distinguishes human pluripotent stem cell-derived islets from primary islets.
    Kato H, Shang KM, Mitsugashira H, Qi M, Suzuki T, Stock PG, Toyoda T, Tai YC, Kandeel F, Komatsu H| | PubMed
  3. Donation After Circulatory Death Islets are Comparable to Standard-of-Care Donation After Brain Death Islets: Analysis of 801 Consecutive Human Islet Isolations.
    Qi M, Omori K, Orr C, Valiente L, Bilbao S, Tucker A, Rawson J, Gonzalez N, Verret J, Cuadra J, Mares J, Jou K, Ligot D, Balandran B, Komatsu H, Mehra M, Ramos K, Hacker-Stratton J, Al-Abdullah IH, Isenberg JS, Kandeel F| | PubMed
  4. Long-term culture of human pancreatic islets reveals reduced metal ion pathways in their gene signature.
    Kato H, Sigdel TK, Sheta M, Omori K, Qi M, Kandeel F, Komatsu H| | PubMed
  5. Oxygen dynamics and delivery strategies to enhance beta cell replacement therapy.
    Shang KM, Suzuki T, Kato H, Toyoda T, Tai YC, Komatsu H| | PubMed
  6. Characterization of Human Pancreatic Islet Cells Using a Single-Cell Western Blot Platform.
    Lenz G, Miao L, Lenz A, Mares J, Quijano J, Zook HN, Komatsu H, Garcia P, Ferreri K, Ku HT, Kandeel F| | PubMed
  7. Biological hypoxia in pre-transplant human pancreatic islets induces transplant failure in diabetic mice.
    Kato H, Salgado M, Mendez D, Gonzalez N, Rawson J, Ligot D, Balandran B, Orr C, Quijano JC, Omori K, Qi M, Al-Abdullah IH, Mullen Y, Ku HT, Kandeel F, Komatsu H| | PubMed
  8. A novel approach to determine the critical survival threshold of cellular oxygen within spheroids via integrating live/dead cell imaging with oxygen modeling.
    Shang KM, Kato H, Gonzalez N, Kandeel F, Tai YC, Komatsu H| | PubMed
  9. Firefly Rats: Illuminating the Scientific Community in Transplantation Research.
    Kobayashi E, Hakamata Y, Enosawa S, Shang KM, Komatsu H| | PubMed
  10. Physiomimetic Fluidic Culture Platform on Microwell-Patterned Porous Collagen Scaffold for Human Pancreatic Islets.
    Kato H, Chen H, Shang KM, Izumi K, Koba N, Tsuchiya T, Kawazoe N, Quijano J, Omori K, Orr C, Qi M, Ku HT, Kandeel F, Tai YC, Chen G, Komatsu H| | PubMed