During his residency, Dr Kurozumi worked on several cases of malignant gliomas in which surgery, irradiation and chemotherapy all failed to make an impact on the condition. Having heard that gene therapy approaches offered an alternative form of treatment, Dr Kurozumi then spent his time as a research fellow at Okayama and Sapporo Universities working on gene therapy to induce apoptosis in malignant glioma, and genemodified mesenchymal cells for cerebral ischemia and brain tumours, with the aim of finding more efficient gene delivery vehicles. During this time he completed a Doctorate in the Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Dr Kurozumi is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Ohio State University Medical Center Department of Neurological Surgery. He is currently researching gene and cell therapy for brain tumours, focussing in particular on the oncolytic herpes virus vector for targeting glioma, with a view to realizing his ambition to cure malignant glioma by discovering efficient delivery vehicles.
Further information on Dr Kurozumi's award winning presentation given at the 11 th JSGT meeting in Tokyo is