Rate My Professor Kenji Hirayama

Professor Kenji Hirayama, MD, PhD, serves as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Immunogenetics, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health at Nagasaki University, where he has held the position since 2001. He also holds roles as Dean of the Interfaculty Initiative in Planetary Health since 2024 and Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health since 2021. Hirayama obtained his MD from Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 1981 and completed his PhD in Human Genetics at its Medical Research Institute from 1981 to 1985. His career trajectory includes Research Fellow at Harvard School of Public Health (1989-1992), Lecturer at St. Marianna Medical University School of Medicine (1988-1993), Associate Professor and Professor at Saitama Medical University Faculty of Medicine (1993-2001), and various leadership positions at Nagasaki University such as Dean of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (2007-2011, 2017-2019), Vice President for International Affairs (2004-2007), and Vice Director of the Center for International Collaborative Research (2006-2018).

Hirayama specializes in immunogenetics and parasitology, with research centered on human genetic factors influencing susceptibility, pathogenesis, and severity of tropical infectious diseases including malaria, dengue fever, Chagas disease, schistosomiasis, and trypanosomiasis. He directs vaccine development efforts using DNA and recombinant technologies in collaboration with institutions like Pasteur Paris and European Vaccine Initiative, and drug discovery involving herbal medicines and compound design with partners such as Astellas and Thammasat University. Notable publications include 'First malaria in pregnancy followed in Philippine real-world setting: proof-of-concept of probabilistic record linkage' (Trop Med Health, 2024), 'Induction of liver-resident memory T cells and protection at liver-stage malaria by mRNA-containing lipid nanoparticles' (Front Immunol, 2023), 'Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi activity of Coptis rhizome extract and its constituents' (Trop Med Health, 2023), and books such as 'Medical Zoology' (医動物学, 2021, 2016). His impact is recognized through awards like the US-Japan CMSP Lifetime Achievement Award (2025), Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Thammasat University (2023), 68th Katsurada Award (2021), 1st Miyazaki Ichiro Award (2018), and Japanese Society of Tropical Medicine Award (2009). He has delivered over 250 lectures, supervised master's and doctoral students, taught courses in immunology, biotechnology, vaccinology, and research ethics, chaired international ethics committees, and holds four patents on antigens and vaccines.