Toshio Hirano

Toshio Hirano (Japanese平野 俊 夫, Toshio Hirano, born April 7, 1947 in Osaka Prefecture ) is a Japanese immunologist. He is known for the discovery of interleukin- sixth

Career

Hirano studied medicine at the University of Osaka with the conclusion of 1972. Starting in 1980, he was assistant professor at Kumamoto University and since 1984 assistant professor and in 1989 professor at the Institute for Molekarbiologie and Cell Biology at the University of Osaka. In 2004 he was dean of the Graduate School of Frontier Bioscience and 2008, the Graduate School of Medicine. From 2011 he was the president of the University of Osaka.

He is also a group leader at the Laboratory for Cytokine Signaling at the RIKEN Yokohama Institute Research Center for Allergy and Immunology.

He conducts research on the role of various signaling molecules in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and allergies. In 1986, he cloned his group interleukin 6 and examined after various molecular processes that are associated with this chemical messenger of the immune system, such as STAT3 ( Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3), proteins of the Gab- family and zinc - transporting proteins. They also study the role of zinc on the immune system as a new addition, a second messenger in the development and in cancer metastasis.

He has won numerous awards, including 2009 he received the Crafoord Prize in 2011 and the Japan Prize.