Tadatsugu Taniguchi
University of Tokyo
Japan
Taniguchi received his Ph.D. from the University of Zurich. He worked as Member of Cancer Institute (Tokyo), Professor of Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Osaka University and then Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology at the University of Tokyo Medical School. His research projects have stemmed from his original discovery of two cytokine genes, interferon-beta and interleukin-2. These discoveries have laid the groundwork for therapeutic advances achieved by the administration of cytokines. He discovered a new family of transcription factors, the interferon regulatory factors (IRFs), which play integral roles in immunity and cancer. His group now focuses on dead cell-derived molecules that regulate innate immune responses in the host’s pathogenic responses. He has received numerous awards, including the Hammer Prize, Robert Koch Prize, Pezcoller-AACR International Award for Cancer Research, and was bestowed the Person of Cultural Merit award from the Government of Japan. He is Foreign Associate Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, in 2003, International Member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2016 and Associate Member of EMBO in 2018.