Rate My Professor Hisashi Arase

Hisashi Arase is Professor in the Department of Immunochemistry at the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, and Professor in the Laboratory of Immunochemistry at the Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University. He has served as Deputy Director of the Immunology Frontier Research Center since 2019. Arase received an M.D. from Hokkaido University School of Medicine in 1990 and a Ph.D. from Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine in 1994. His career includes appointments as Assistant Professor at Chiba University School of Medicine in 1994, Research Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco in 2000, Associate Professor at Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine in 2002, and Associate Professor at the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University in 2004, before becoming Professor in 2006.

Arase’s research focuses on immunochemistry, with emphasis on autoimmunity, immune regulation, and host-pathogen interactions, including studies on paired receptors and the role of MHC class II molecules in presenting misfolded proteins. He has received the 14th Japanese Society for Immunology Award in 2011, the Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2013, the 63rd Hideyo Noguchi Award in 2020, the 58th Erwin von Bälz Prize in 2021, the 4th Toyoichi Ohtawara Award in 2023, and the Mochida Memorial Award in 2025. Key publications include papers in Cell (2024, 2021), Science Advances (2022), Nature (2017, 2020), and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014, 2010, 2008). Arase has contributed to understanding mechanisms of autoimmune diseases and viral evasion through paired receptors.