Onohara Lab Staff

Daisuke Onohara, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Daisuke.Onohara@NationwideChildrens.org

Daisuke Onohara, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and a principal investigator at the Center for Regenerative Medicine. His career, deeply rooted in cardiovascular surgery, spans extensive research and clinical practice in Japan and the United States.

Dr. Onohara's laboratory is at the forefront of developing and refining interventional therapies for heart diseases. He has led over 500 large animal experiments to test new medical devices, focusing on heart failure treatments. A significant achievement in his career is developing a novel device designed to treat heart failure caused by functional mitral regurgitation. This device aims to reshape the dilated left ventricle and realign the papillary muscles, thereby enhancing cardiac function and correcting mitral regurgitation.

Additionally, Dr. Onohara has established an innovative in-utero lamb model to simulate hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This model is created by obstructing the mitral inflow with an expandable balloon catheter in the left atrium, serving as an essential tool for understanding and treating this congenital heart defect.

Dr. Onohara extensively uses advanced diagnostic tools such as echocardiography, invasive hemodynamics, and cardiac MRI in his research. These modalities provide a comprehensive evaluation of physiology in animal models and surgical devices, contributing to deeper insights and advancements in cardiovascular treatments.

Throughout his career, Dr. Onohara has received numerous accolades, including finalist positions for the Vivien Thomas Young Investigator Award and a prestigious fellowship from the American Heart Association. His significant contributions to the field demonstrate his passionate commitment to advancing cardiovascular medicine through innovative research and surgical expertise.

Chihiro Miyagi, MD, PhD
Research Associate
Chihiro.Miyagi@NationwideChildrens.org

Chihiro earned her medical and doctorate degrees at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. She completed seven years of her clinical training in both cardiovascular surgery and pediatric cardiac surgery before shifting her focus to medical device development and large animal models for heart failure and congenital heart disease. After relocating to the United States, she pursued postdoctoral training at the Cleveland Clinic, where she worked on developing a total artificial heart for both adult and pediatric heart failure patients, alongside many other blood pump devices. Chihiro joined the Onohara Lab in 2024, where her research centers on developing in-utero lamb models of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) and creating a left ventricular reshaping device for heart failure treatment.

Kosuke Nakamae, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Scientist
Kosuke.Nakamae@NationwideChildrens.org

Kosuke earned his medical degree from Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan, and completed extensive training as a clinical fellow in adult cardiovascular surgery at Tokyo Women's Medical University. While working as an assistant professor at Tokyo Women's Medical University, he conducted clinical research and earned his doctorate. His research interests focus on valvular heart disease and heart failure, as well as minimally invasive treatments. He joined the Onohara Lab in November 2024 to support his research and pursue his own interests in cardiovascular disease and its treatment.