Meet DANDRITE's New Team Leader: Asami Tanimura
Why do some childhood experiences stay with us for life? That is one of the central questions driving Asami Tanimura's research. As DANDRITE's new Team Leader, she will investigate how early-life experiences shape the developing brain – and why they can leave lasting marks on mental health.
When Asami Tanimura arrived in Aarhus in October 2020, Denmark was in the middle of the COVID-19 shutdown.
“I only knew about Copenhagen before I came here,” she recalls. “Then I arrived at Aarhus University during the shutdown in the wake of COVID, so that was a bit challenging.”
She had travelled from Chicago to establish the laboratory of DANDRITE Group Leader Jelena Radulovic, who was looking for someone to help build her new research group in Aarhus.
Today, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University, leads her own independent research group in affective neuroscience, and has recently been appointed a Team Leader at DANDRITE.
"It is a very exciting opportunity," she says. “DANDRITE brings together researchers with complementary expertise and a strong focus on fundamental neuroscience. I think there will be many opportunities for collaboration.”
Understanding how childhood shapes the brain
Children's earliest experiences can leave lasting marks on the brain.
Asami's research seeks to understand how interactions between babies and their caregivers shape the development of the brain circuits responsible for emotion – and why adverse early-life experiences can increase the risk of mental illness later in life.
“Our research explores how early-life experiences shape the development of brain areas that process emotion,” she says.
“We are especially interested in how social factors, such as social touch and emotional bonding, influence this development. Understanding how emotion-related brain circuits develop after birth – and how this development affects vulnerability to stress – is key to creating better support and treatment for people who have experienced childhood trauma and struggle with mental health challenges.”
To answer these questions, her laboratory combines genetic approaches, electrophysiology, advanced imaging and behavioural studies in mouse models. By linking molecular, cellular and circuit-level mechanisms to behaviour, the group aims to identify the biological pathways that underlie resilience and vulnerability to childhood adversity.
“This research focus, combined with a strong commitment to methodological integration, aligns closely with DANDRITE's mission to advance fundamental biomedical understanding through cutting-edge approaches,” says Asami.
Choosing science
For Asami, the decision to become a neuroscientist was shaped by experiences long before she entered a research laboratory.
During her bachelor's programme, she worked at a day center for children with neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD and autism. After graduating, she worked in a hospital, where she met patients living with severe cognitive impairment.
“Their cognition was quite damaged, and I wondered how this happens and how we can treat these deficits.” she says. “That was my motivation for changing my career path and joining a research laboratory.”
She went on to complete a master's degree in neuroscience and later a PhD.
“After my PhD, I had to decide whether I wanted to pursue a career within science because of the difficulties of getting position and funding. Everyone said it was going to be tough.”
“But again,” she says, her eyes lighting up, “I simply love science.”
Receiving a postdoc fellowship allowed her to continue along that path in Chicago - one that eventually led her to Aarhus, DANDRITE and, now, her own research group.