Sasakawa was born in 1948 in Tokyo. He graduated from the Faculty of Science at
Chiba University in 1972, and obtained his doctorate from the Graduate school of Medicine,
the University of Tokyo in 1978. Following research stints at the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo (1978-1980) and the
Washington University School of Medicine as an
NIH Fogarty Fellow (1980-1983), he became an
associate professor at the Institute of Medical Science, the University of Tokyo, becoming a full professor in 1995. He also concurrently held the position of professor at the Osaka University Research Institute for Microbial Diseases from 1998 to 2001.[1] Sasakawa retired from the University of Tokyo in 2012 and is currently a
professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo. He is currently the Director of Chiba University Medical Mycology Research Center (2013 to present) and Nippon Institute for Biological Science (2012 to present).
Contribution
In the field of bacteriology, Sasakawa’s work has shed light on many fundamental principles underlying the infectious process of highly pathogenic bacteria and the role of the host’s natural immune response in defending against infection. Utilizing model species such as
Shigella and
Helicobacter, he elucidated the pathogen-host interaction in a holistic manner that encompassed molecular biology, cellular biology, biochemistry and immunology, thereby significantly contributing to the creation of the discipline of “Infection Biology”.
Honors and awards
Sasakawa has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the highly prestigious Government of Japan (Medal with Purple Ribbon):
1995: Kobayashi Rokuzo Award (Japanese Society for Microbiology)
1998: Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Award for Medical Sciences
2006: Takeda Medical Award
2012: Asakawa Award (Japanese Society for Microbiology)
2021: Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (Government of Japan)
Editorial board activities
Sasakawa currently serves on the editorial board of multiple leading scientific journals.
Cell Host Microbe (2007 to 2019)
Nature Review Microbiology (2003 to present)
Trends in Microbiology (1999 to present)
Current Opinion in Microbiology (2002 to present)
Cellular Microbiology (1998 to present)
Molecular Microbiology (1995-2002)
Microbes and Infection (1999-2002).
Leadership of scientific societies
Sasakawa was the Chairman of the Japanese Society for Bacteriology from 2006 to 2008 and currently serves as General Director of the Federation of Microbiological Societies of Japan (since 2012).
Books (in English)
Molecular Medical Microbiology (ed., M. Sussman), Academic Press, 2002, pp. 645–668.
Methods in Enzymology, Elsevier Science, 2002, 358: 385-392.
Bacterial Invasion of Host Cells (ed., R. Lamont), Cambridge University Press, 2004, 25-57
Publications
Sasakawa, C. et al. Infect Immun 51, 470-5 (1986).
Sasakawa, C. et al. J Bacteriol 175, 2334-46 (1993).
Suzuki, T., Lett, M. C. & Sasakawa, J Biol Chem 270, 30874-80 (1995).
Watarai, M., Funato, S. & Sasakawa, J Exp Med 183, 991-9 (1996).
Suzuki, T., Miki, H., Takenawa, T. & Sasakawa, C. EMBO J 17, 2767-76 (1998).
Tamano, K. et al. EMBO J 19, 3876-87 (2000).
Tatsuno, I. et al. Infect Immun 69, 6660-9 (2001).