Tomoko was awarded her PhD from the Department of Audiology at the University of Melbourne in 2017, where she focused on the development and regeneration of the auditory nerve: much of her research was carried out at the Institute.

Tomoko has experience in histology, microdissection and explant culture work in vitro and is applying her skills across multiple projects including the development of devices for Parkinson’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Her current areas of focus are projects relating to diabetes and Crohn's disease.

E: [email protected]

Research projects

Diabetes

Crohn's disease

Recent publications

  1. Payne, S. C., G. Ward, R. J. MacIsaac, T. Hyakumura, J. B. Fallon, and J. Villalobos. 2020. Differential effects of vagus nerve stimulation strategies on glycemia and pancreatic secretions, Physiological reports, 8(11): e14479.

  2. Hyakumura, T., S. McDougall, S. Finch, K. Needham, M. Dottori, and B. A. Nayagam. 2019. Organotypic Cocultures of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived-Neurons with Mammalian Inner Ear Hair Cells and Cochlear Nucleus Slices, Stem Cells International, 2019: 419493.

  3. Payne, S. C., J. B. Furness, O. Burns, A. Sedo, T. Hyakumura, R. K. Shepherd, and J. B. Fallon. 2019. Anti-inflammatory Effects of Abdominal Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Experimental Intestinal Inflammation. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 13(418). doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00418.

  4. Payne, S. C., O. Burns, M. J. Stebbing, R. Thomas, A. C. de Silva, A. Sedo, F. Wiessenborn, T. Hyakumura, M. Huynh, C. N. May, R. A. Williams, J. Furness, J. Fallon, and R. Shepherd. 2019. Vagus nerve stimulation to treat inflammatory bowel disease: a chronic, preclinical safety study in sheep. Bioelectronics in Medicine. 1(4): 235-250. doi: https://doi.org/10.2217/bem-2018-0011

  5. Hyakumura, T., S. McDougall, S. Finch, K. Needham, M. Dottori, and B. A. Nayagam. 2019. Organotypic Cocultures of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived-Neurons with Mammalian Inner Ear Hair Cells and Cochlear Nucleus Slices. Stem Cells International. 2019: 8419493. doi: 10.1155/2019/8419493.