Shioko Kimura

Shioko Kimura
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materHokkaido University (PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry, endocrinology, cancer research
InstitutionsNational Cancer Institute

Shioko Kimura is a Japanese-American biochemist specialized in endocrinology and the physiology and pathogenesis of diseases including thyroid and lung cancers. She headed the endocrinology section in the laboratory of metabolism at the National Cancer Institute until her retirement in 2025.

Early life and education

Kimura completed a Ph.D. in chemistry at Hokkaido University. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Queen's University at Kingston and a visiting fellow at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).[1]

Career

At the National Cancer Institute (NCI), she started in the laboratory of molecular carcinogenesis. Since 1996, she heads the endocrinology section in the laboratory of metabolism.[1]

Kimura's research focuses on understanding the role of homeodomain transcription factor NKX2-1, a marker for lung adenocarcinoma in humans, and its downstream target, a novel cytokine, SCGB3A2 in development, homeostasis, physiology, and pathogenesis of diseases, particularly cancers of the thyroid and lung. Kimura uses cell culture and mouse models, and various genetically engineered mouse lines to investigate these problems. Her studies have suggested that SCGB3A2 has anti-cancer activity, and her group is currently extensively involved in uncovering the mechanism.[2]

Kimura retired on June 30, 2025.[3]

Publications

References

  1. ^ a b "Shioko Kimura, Ph.D." Center for Cancer Research. 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2020-10-06. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Principal Investigators". NIH Intramural Research Program. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved 2020-10-06. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "Celebrating CCR Careers: Shioko Kimura, Ph.D. | Center for Cancer Research". ccr.cancer.gov. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Institutes of Health.