Atsushi Nakano

Career History & Research Interest

Professor, Dept. Molecular Cell Developmental Biology,
Cardiology Division, Dept Medicine, Broard Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine,
University of California Los Angeles

Dr. Nakano, a distinguished scholar, holds an MD and PhD from Kyoto University School of Medicine. Following his Cardiology Residency at Tenri Hospital, he pursued further studies in the United States, completing a postdoctoral fellowship and establishing himself at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he attained the rank of Full Professor. His pioneering research delves into heart development and congenital diseases, with a specialized emphasis on the interplay of immune cells and metabolism. Dr. Nakano's contributions include seminal discoveries such as the multipotency of cardiovascular progenitors (Cell 2006), hemogenic activity of the embryonic endocardium (Nat Comm 2013), local functions of endocardially-derived macrophages (Dev Cell 2019; Nat Comm 2023), and the impact of metabolic environments on cardiogenesis (Cell 2024). He shares his expertise as a lecturer in Molecular Biology at UCLA and Cell Physiology at The Jikei University School of Medicine.