Tadatsugu Taniguchi, Ph.D.

Tadatsugu Taniguchi, Ph.D. | 19881988 Milstein Award Laureate

JAPAN

University of Tokyo

Dr. Taniguchi, Professor and Chair of the Immunology Laboratory, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, has performed groundbreaking research in molecular immunology.  He was the first to isolate and characterize an interferon gene, and he discovered the interferon regulatory family of transcription factors.  Dr. Taniguchi has also characterized the key regulator of immune responses, interleukin-2, and elucidated its mechanism of action.  Currently, his lab seeks to clarify and understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of innate immune responses, the role of the IRF family transcription factors in immunity and oncogenesis, mechanisms of cooperation between the innate and adaptive immune responses, interaction of commensal bacteria and host intestinal immune cells, and development of novel drugs for the treatment of immunological diseases and cancers.