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Summary
Dr. Nagao is a board-certified Dermatologist (Japanese Association of Dermatology) and currently directs a research program that includes basic and pre-translational investigations on skin immunology and immune-mediated diseases. Dr. Nagao is an attending physician on the NIH Clinical Center’s Dermatology Consultation Service.
Research Statement
Dr. Nagao studies the skin immune system in the context of host-microbiota crosstalk during health and inflammatory conditions and has advanced our knowledge on how the skin functions as an immunological organ.
His laboratory has identified hair follicles as control towers of the skin immunity that support the tissue-residency and localization of dendritic cells, T cells, and innate lymphoid cells. In turn, the immune cells, such as the innate lymphoid cells, actively communicate with the hair follicles to regulate the commensal bacteria on the skin surface. Dr. Nagao’s laboratory has also generated a mouse model for atopic dermatitis and demonstrated Staphylococcus aureus to be a critical element during eczema formation.
In collaboration with investigators at the NIH Clinical Center, he conducts translational research on intractable inflammatory skin diseases, such as primary immunodeficiencies, to understand mechanisms that underlie host-microbial symbiosis directly in humans.
Scientific Publications
Education
Dr. Nagao obtained his M.D. from Keio University School of Medicine in Japan in 1994 and his Ph.D. in Microbiology (medical mycology) from Keio University in 2005.
Experience
Dr. Nagao joined the Department of Dermatology at Keio University School of Medicine in 1994, where he completed his residency. He also rotated Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Keio University and Anesthesiology at Tokyo Dental Collage. He subsequently worked at two Keio-affiliated hospitals, each in the Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Department of Dermatology. He then returned to Keio University and served as junior clinical faculty in the Department of Dermatology while conducting his Ph.D. program. During 2005-2008, Dr. Nagao conducted his postdoctoral research on skin dendritic cells in the lab of Dr. Mark Udey, M.D. in the Dermatology Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH. In 2008, Dr. Nagao returned to Japan and initiated his independent research program at Keio University where he served as a faculty member for 6-years. Dr. Nagao re-joined Dermatology Branch as an Earl Stadtman tenure-track investigator in July of 2014. In 2017, Dr. Nagao and the Dermatology Branch transferred to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. In 2020, he earned tenure and is currently Senior Investigator and Head of the Cutaneous Leukocyte Biology Laboratory.