She completed her doctoral studies, both M.D. and Ph.D., in Japan and started her career as a Japanese pediatric oncologist. Because she quickly realized the importance of biomedical research for improving treatment of patients, she decided to devote herself to basic research in the U.S. Esumi's laboratory aims to increase understanding of the physiology and disease of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) at the molecular level. She is interested in the process of RPE aging and, therefore, particularly in the pathophysiology of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In addition to her current BrightFocus award, Esumi was previously awarded a BrightFocus-MDR grant as well as NIH R01 and R21 grants.