Ultramarathon Runner & Researcher Asuka Eguchi Goes the Distance Posted: 2025-06-12 Source: UC Irvine School of Medicine News Type: Features & Briefs share Asuka Eguchi, PhD, during the Squamish 50 in 2022, a trail run covering 50 miles. Whether pushing through a 100-mile race or staying the course on long-term research, Asuka Eguchi, PhD, has the will to endure, overcoming any obstacles in her way. Eguchi culturing cells in the lab.The Eguchi Lab at UC Irvine explores genetic forms of heart failure, investigating the molecular pathways underlying disease in an effort to develop therapeutic strategies to prevent disease progression. Led by Asuka Eguchi, PhD, assistant professor in the Physiology and Biophysics Department in the School of Medicine, lab members are currently focusing on gene therapy to combat heart failure in those with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a devastating genetic disorder that can eventually affect heart and respiratory muscles. “It was during my postdoc that I started this deep dive into muscle research, and I really focused on the heart aspects of Duchenne muscular dystrophy,” says Eguchi. “The lab I joined was very much muscle-focused, which played well to my extracurricular interest.” That extracurricular interest is endurance running, a hobby Eguchi was goaded into at age 11. She and her younger brother had just run 10 laps around their apartment complex, the equivalent of about two and a half miles. “He started teasing me, saying, ‘I bet you can’t run anymore!’ Being challenged like that sparked something inside of me, and I had to prove him wrong,” says Eguchi. “I ended up running 10 miles that day.” She went on to join her high school cross country team and ran her first marathon when she was 17. “I didn’t run in college, but that’s when I discovered research.” She earned her BS in biology at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and her PhD in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Science of Endurance She credits her background as a runner with preparing her for scientific discovery. “Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve been studying running — how slow and fast fibers work or how your heart adapts to endurance events,” she says. “So I definitely had that foundational knowledge before I even started doing research.” In grad school, she studied the process of reprogramming somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. “That powerful technology, allowing us to make stem cells from any cell type in the body, was what really got me interested in disease modeling.” She again credits her experience as an endurance runner with preparing her for a career in academic research. She has run approximately 30 marathons and around a dozen ultras, winning the Avalon 50 miler in 2018 in under eight hours. That same year, she placed second in both the Headlands Endurance Runs 50-mile race and the Rio del Lago 100-mile race. She also set a San Francisco record on New Year’s day 2020 for running the longest distance in 24 hours (120.8 miles). Eguchi during the Headlands Endurance Runs 50-mile race. (Credit: ChasquiRunner)“There have been a lot of challenges mentally that I’ve experienced on the trail that have helped me overcome obstacles in science,” she explains. “I also bring the same meticulous planning that I exercise in science to organize the day’s events on race day.” A Focus on Mentoring & Collaboration Eguchi also sees parallels in mentorship. “I give new runners tips on how to train, navigate their emotions when things go wrong and reorganize training plans after an injury,” she says, noting similarities with training grad students. “I really love being a mentor to the next generation of scientists too!” Eguchi (center) at Crystal Cove State Park with graduate students from her lab.In fact, she’s more focused than ever on mentoring students and making scientific discoveries. In collaboration with Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, Eguchi and her students are studying how mutations in the androgen receptor affect cardiomyocyte function. “This new avenue of research is opening up some doors in studying differences in males and females in terms of where the androgen receptor binds across the genome,” she says. Another collaboration, with Virginia Kimonis, MD, a professor of genetic and genomic medicine, involves studying how valosin-containing protein (VCP) affects cardiomyocytes. Other aspects of Eguchi’s research include looking at DNA repair pathways. “It’s so incredible that the heart cells that you’re born with last the entirety of your life, so if you live to be 100 years old, the same cardiomyocytes that were beating in your heart when you were a baby are the same ones that keep you going in old age,” she says. “There’s obviously a ton of stress that your heart goes through over time, and I’m looking into ways to combat that stress.” A Dream Come True Eguchi is still running, including a 22-mile run through the Grand Canyon for Memorial Day weekend last month, but not as much. She purposefully scheduled a trip through the 220-mile John Muir Trail, from Yosemite to Mount Whitney, just before arriving at UC Irvine in 2023. “I wanted an escape from science for a couple of weeks before I started — an adventure — but it ended up being this very stressful 11-day journey of really surviving in the mountains,” she says, noting there was record snow that year. “I didn’t realize how hard it would be. I had never backpacked before, and I told my [department] chair, Michael Cahalan, that I would be at UCI on Aug. 1, so then I ended up rushing through the mountains!” Despite delays caused by the snow, she arrived at UC Irvine as scheduled. “Since coming to UC Irvine, I’ve put racing on the back burner so I can focus on my research and mentoring students,” she says. “I’m so lucky to have this space at UCI, with great students that I can work with to study different aspects of heart failure. It’s a dream come true.” Eguchi summiting Mount Whitney after being on the John Muir Trail for 11 days, just before starting at UC Irvine. Media Contacts Matt Miller Director mrmille2@uci.edu Michelle Heath Manager mstrombe@hs.uci.edu Shani Murray Senior Science Writer shanim@hs.uci.edu Communications & PR Office Related Faculty/Staff Asuka Eguchi, PhD Assistant Professor, Physiology & Biophysics