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Magdalene College Cambridge

Dr Liria Masuda-Nakagawa

Dr Liria M Masuda-Nakagawa is a Fellow Commoner, Director of Studies and College Lecturer in Part 1B Biological Sciences, specialising in Neurobiology.

After my PhD in the University of Tokyo, I have held research positions in the University of Basel (Switzerland), RIKEN Brain Science Institute (Wako, Japan), and the Universities of Tsukuba and Tokyo. I have been a Senior Research Associate in Cambridge since 2011.

Research Interests

Drosophila neuronal circuitry, especially in the fields of sensory discrimination, and learning and memory.

Qualifications

B.Sc. 1981 (University of Chiba); M.Sc. 1983 (University of Tokyo); PhD 1986 (University of Tokyo)

Career/Research Highlights

Roles of cell adhesion molecules in central nervous system regeneration; identification of a head-determining factor in Cnidaria; establishing stereotypic and random connections as a means to encode sensory information for learning.

Professional Affiliations

The Genetics Society

Selected Publications

A single GABAergic neuron mediates feedback of odor-evoked signals in the mushroom body of larval Drosophila.
*Masuda-Nakagawa LM, Ito K, Awasaki T, O’Kane CJ
Frontiers Neural Circuits 2014; 8:35.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24782716 ; DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2014.00035

Localized olfactory representation in the mushroom bodies of Drosophila larvae. *Masuda-Nakagawa LM, Gendre N, O’Kane CJ, Stocker RF
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2009;106, 10314-9
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19502424 ; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0900178106

Stereotypic and random patterns of connectivity in the larval mushroom body calyx of Drosophila.
*Masuda-Nakagawa LM, Tanaka NK, O’Kane CJ
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2005;102, 19027-32
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16357192

Octopaminergic neurons have multiple targets in Drosophila larval mushroom body calyx and can modulate behavioral odor discrimination.
Wong JHY, Wan BA, Bland T, Montagnese M, McLachlan AD, O’Kane CJ, Zhang S-W, Masuda-Nakagawa LM*
Learn Mem, 2021; 28, 53-71.

http://www.learnmem.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/lm.052159.120

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33452115/

Full list of PubMed publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=masuda-nakagawa+l