Kazu Oikawa, DVM, PhD

I earned my BVSc (equivalent to DVM) in 2012 from Azabu University in Japan. For three years in the veterinary school, I worked in the veterinary ophthalmology department to assist with ophthalmic examinations and surgical operations. After earning my Japanese national veterinary license, I moved on to Nippon Veterinary Life-science University where I completed a rotating internship at the veterinary teaching hospital and joined a clinical pathology lab where I conducted an investigation of somatic gene mutational status in feline diffuse iris melanoma. I joined Dr. Gillian McLellan’s lab in September 2014 as a PhD student. Since completing my PhD, I continue to study the pathophysiology of glaucomatous optic neuropathy utilizing next generation sequencing and biomolecular techniques. Back home in Japan, I have a shiba dog and four domestic tabby cats who I’ve grown up with and my career goal is to become a veterinary ophthalmologist clinician-scientist.