Shizuo Akira


Shizuo Akira is a professor at the Department of Host Defense, Osaka University, Japan. He has made ground-breaking discoveries in the field of immunology, most significantly in the area of innate host defense mechanisms.

Education

Shizuo Akira gained a M.D. in School of Medicine from Osaka University in 1977. In 1984 he earned a PhD from Osaka University. Till 1987, he did post-doctoral research at University of California, Berkeley.

Research

Beside being one of the world's most-cited scientist, he has also been recognised, in the years 2006 and 2007, as having published the greatest number of ‘Hot Papers’ over the preceding two years. He is the recipient of several international awards, including the Gairdner Foundation International Award, Robert Koch Prize, the Milstein Award, and the William B. Coley Award.
Among his greatest discoveries is the demonstration, through the ablation of toll-like receptor s genes, that TLRs recognize a discrete collection of molecules of microbial origin, and later the RNA helicases, RIG-I and MDA5. All molecules belong to the pattern recognition receptors, which detects intruding pathogens and initiates antimicrobial responses in the host.

Career history