UC Davis Upon receiving her PhD, Yamamoto accepted a faculty position at the
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine where she began research with
Niels C. Pederson on the
feline version of HIV. Yamamoto established the Laboratory of Comparative Immunology and Retrovirology in 1985, where they isolated the feline immunodeficiency virus for the first time in medical history in an effort to create a vaccine. For a one-year term between 1988 and 1989, she also worked as a consultant in the Clinical Division of
Bio-Rad Laboratories. In recognition of her efforts, Yamamoto was named a Research Foundation Professor of Pathobiology at the University of Florida. In 2005, Yamamoto conducted a research project in which cats were vaccinated with an experimental strain of the human AIDS virus. The conclusion of the project found that the felines vaccinated with the human strain were similarly protected as those vaccinated by feline strain. In the same year, she received the school's Pfizer Animal Health Award for Research Excellence. Yamamoto later collaborated with AIDS researcher
Jay A. Levy to help control the spread of HIV/AIDS in Caribbean and Latin American nations. In a further effort to combat the spread of HIV/AID, Yamamoto donated all of her patient income and parts of her salary to fund her research towards a cure for HIV. On December 16, 2014, Yamamoto was named a fellow of the
National Academy of Inventors for her discovery of the feline HIV vaccine. Yamamoto was named to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015 for her discovery of the feline immunodeficiency virus. The following year, she was honored by the University of Florida as their "Inventor of the Year" for her achievements. ==Selected publications==