08 November 2019
The winner of the 2019 LEO Foundation Award Region Asia-Pacific is Dr. Tetsuro Kobayashi. He receives 100,000 USD for his research in understanding the interaction between microbes and the immune system in skin.
A major direction of Tetsuro Kobayashi’s research aims to understand the immunological eco-system of the skin and, in particular, how immune cells interact with both the skin microbiota and the surrounding skin cells in atopic dermatitis.
Dr. Tetsuro Kobayashi currently holds the position as Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Innate Immune Systems, RIKEN, Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS), Yokohama, Japan.
Award ceremony
The 2019 LEO Foundation Award Region Aisa-Pacific has just been presented by The LEO Foundation Chief Grant Officer, Ida Brams, at a ceremony at the The 44th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology in Aomori in Japan.
“I’m very honoured to receive the award,” smiles a happy Tetsuro Kobayashi in Aomori.
Tetsuro Kobayashi graduated in 2007 as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Veterinary School at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. During his PhD at Gifu University, he studied hair follicle stem cell biology. Following postdoctoral training in Japan and the US, Dr. Tetsuro Kobayashi is now a Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Innate Immune Systems at RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Yokohama in Japan.
The review panel was impressed
The winner of this year’s Region Asia-Pacific award has been selected among all the regional applicants. All applications have been reviewed and scored by a global panel with reviewers from the Japanese SID, the Korean SID, the Taiwanese SID, the American SID and the ESDR.
The Global Review panel was excited about Tetsuro Kobayashi and said among other things about the awardee:
“An impressive track record in understanding the interaction between microbes and the immune system in skin.”
“A beautiful first-author paper in Immunity in 2015 showing that Staph aureus drives eczema – and culminating recently in a first-author paper in Cell showing interactions between innate lymphoid cells and sebum.”
“Excellent publication record and high originality of research work – Tetsuro shows potential to become a leader in the field.”
“His research challenges paradigms – and may lead to better therapeutic options.”
Fun and excitement
A major direction of Tetsuro Kobayashi’s research aims to understand the immunological eco-system of the skin and, in particular, how immune cells interact with both the skin microbiota and the surrounding skin cells in atopic dermatitis.
Tetsuro Kobayahsi became interested in dermatology when he was actually a veterinary student.
“Dogs and cats also suffer from skin diseases like atopic dermatitis,” he explains. But today his research is all about dermatology and helping patients with skin diseases through his research.
Tetsuro’s aim is to establish a comprehensive roadmap for understanding how the skin immune cell network is maintained, and how dysfunction of immune cells leads to skin diseases.
“In the end, I want to provide useful information to doctors and researchers, who work to improve patientcare and to find new treatments,” he says.
And the 2019 LEO Foundation Award is a very important step for his research career:
“The award of USD 100,000 is a crucial support to establish my own and independent research,” Tetsuro Kabayashi smiles.
When Tetsuro is not in his lab, he enjoys spending time with his family – and dog – out in the nature doing everything from hiking to scuba diving.