Teshima studying self-assembly of nano and soft materials to support bio digital twin initiative

News Highlights:

Dr. Tetsuhiko Teshima awarded national Japanese prize for research into the analysis and control of biological dynamics based on the self-organization of functional thin films. MEXT award recognizes young scientists "who have made notable research achievements" for studies that are "pioneering" or "based on original perspectives." Teshima leads the Munich-based office of the NTT Research Medical & Health Informatics Lab and supports the lab’s cardiovascular bio digital twin initiative.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & TOKYO, May 14, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT (TYO:9432), announced that Tetsuhiko Teshima, Ph.D., received the Young Scientists’ Award from Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for his research into the analysis and control of biological dynamics based on the self-organization of functional thin films. The award, according to MEXT, recognizes researchers under the age of 40, "who have made notable research achievements that demonstrate high research and development capabilities, such as pioneering research or research based on original perspectives."

Nominated for the recognition by The University of Tokyo, Teshima received the award at a ceremony on April 15, 2025.

"I am delighted to hear that Dr. Tetsuhiko Teshima has received the MEXT Young Scientists’ Award," said Professor Shoji Takeuchi, a project professor at the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at The University of Tokyo and Teshima’s academic advisor. "Even during his Ph.D. studies, he explored novel ways to integrate thin-film technology and cell manipulation, such as folding cell-laden films using magnetic fields for unique observations. His continued dedication to interdisciplinary research has led to impressive progress in the field of bio-digital twins. This award is a well-deserved recognition of his achievements, and I look forward to his future scientific contributions."

Teshima is a research scientist with the NTT Research Medical & Health Informatics (MEI) Lab’s Munich office, created to support a joint research agreement with the Neuroelectronics Group within the Technical University Munich (TUM) Institute of Biomedical Engineering, where Teshima also works as a senior researcher. Focused on the design and fabrication of bioelectronic interfaces and sensor arrays, this group supports the MEI Lab’s mission of advancing the medical and health sciences by empowering the application of precision-based medicine practices.

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Specifically, the MEI Lab is pursuing the creation and application of bio digital twins to achieve optimized, individualized therapies, beginning with the realization of a cardiovascular bio digital twin (CV BioDT) and an in vitro heart-on-a-chip digital twin platform.

"Dr. Teshima has played a vital role in the MEI Lab’s advancement of bio digital twin technologies, and his recognition by MEXT is very well deserved." said MEI Lab Director Joe Alexander (M.D., Ph.D.). "His leadership of our office in Munich has seamlessly enabled a global research collaboration that is producing findings fundamentally evolving our understanding of biomaterials."

For example, in the 2021 paper, "Bioelectronics for Biodigital Twin," Teshima introduced the research framework of the MEI Lab’s Munich office, its three main research topics—flexible bio-electrodes, soft neural interfaces, and shape-morphing electrodes—and concluded with an outlook on future technological development to achieve the ultimate goal: a bio digital twin. A 2022 paper published by Teshima, "3D and 4D Biointerfaces and Bioelectronics for CV BioDT," outlined his study of cardiomyocytes to induce electrophysiological behavior similar to that of the natural heart as well as the creation of an electrical signal amplitude and frequency database.

In January 2025, Teshima co-authored the paper, "Self-Foldable Three-Dimensional Biointerfaces by Strain Engineering of Two-Dimensional Layered Materials on Polymers," published by ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. The research explored engineered tissues and organoids—miniaturized, three-dimensional structures formed of cells mimicking the architecture and function of real organs, enabling researchers to study organ development, model diseases and test new therapeutics in a controlled and physiologically relevant environment. For more information about that research, please read the NTT Research blog post on its findings.

In addition to his affiliations with NTT Research and TUM, Teshima is a member of the Keio University Faculty of Science and Technology. Previously, he was a researcher in the NTT Basic Research Laboratories and Bio-Medical Informatics Research Center in Japan. Teshima received his Ph.D. in information science and technology from the University of Tokyo, Japan.

For more information about the NTT Research MEI Lab and the CV BioDT initiative, please visit: https://ntt-research.com/mei-lab/

About NTT Research

NTT Research opened its offices in July 2019 in Silicon Valley to conduct basic research and advance technologies as a foundational model for developing high-impact innovation across NTT Group's global business. Currently, four groups are housed at NTT Research facilities in Sunnyvale: the Physics and Informatics (PHI) Lab, the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Lab, the Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab, and the Physics of Artificial Intelligence (PAI) Group. The organization aims to advance science in four areas: 1) quantum information, neuroscience and photonics; 2) cryptographic and information security; 3) medical and health informatics; and 4) artificial intelligence. NTT Research is part of NTT, a global technology and business solutions provider with an annual R&D investment of thirty percent of its profits.

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