Shizuo Akira (審良 静男, Akira Shizuo) (born January 27, 1953, in Higashiōsaka)[1] is a professor at the Department of Host Defense, Osaka University, Japan.[2] He has made ground-breaking discoveries in the field of immunology, most significantly in the area of innate host defense mechanisms.
Besides being one of the world's most-cited scientists,[4] he has also been recognised, in the years 2006 and 2007, for having published the greatest number of ‘Hot Papers’ (11 papers) over the preceding two years. He is the recipient of several international awards, including the Gairdner Foundation International Award (2011), Robert Koch Prize, the Milstein Award (2007), and the William B. Coley Award.[5][6]
Among his greatest discoveries is the demonstration, through the ablation of toll-like receptor (TLR)s genes, that TLRs recognize a discrete collection of molecules of microbial origin, and later the RNAhelicases, RIG-I (retinoic-acid-inducible protein I) and MDA5 (melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5).[7] All molecules belong to the pattern recognition receptors, which detects intruding pathogens and initiates antimicrobial responses in the host.[8]
Career history
Clinical Training and Physician (1977–1980)
Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (1985–1987)
Research Associate (1987–1995), Associate Professor (1995), Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Osaka University
2016 Semantic Scholar AI program ranked Akira as #4 on its list of most influential biomedical researchers.[11]
Missing and rescued
In July 2021, Akira went missing while climbing Kannon peak in Tenkawa, Nara Prefecture, on his own. He was found and rescued by police with the help of a police dog.[12]
^Yoneyama M, Kikuchi M, Natsukawa T, et al. (July 2004). "The RNA helicase RIG-I has an essential function in double-stranded RNA-induced innate antiviral responses". Nature Immunology. 5 (7): 730–7. doi:10.1038/ni1087. PMID15208624. S2CID34876422.
