Dr. Jun Ishihara

Biography

Jun Ishihara is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London. His research focuses on protein engineering, particularly in cancer immunotherapy, autoimmunity, and regenerative medicine. He received his PhD in stem cell biology from the University of Tokyo and completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Jeffrey Hubbell at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne from 2014 to 2016, and at the University of Chicago from 2016 to 2020, where he relocated with his lab to the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Dr. Ishihara has developed novel technologies in the field of immuno-engineering to improve current therapies and discover new drugs, including localized immune activation targeting the tumor microenvironment. His methods enhance the safety and effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy, as well as engineered treatments for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In regenerative medicine, his lab has developed innovative approaches to deliver growth factors efficiently to wound sites to promote healing. He has co-authored 30 scientific papers and holds 14 patents, with notable publications in top-tier journals such as Nature Biomedical Engineering and Science Translational Medicine. Additionally, he is a co-founder of Arrow Immune Inc., HeioThera Inc., and ScienceLounge LLC, which focus on the clinical translation of cancer immunotherapy techniques and anti-inflammatory therapeutics, as well as scientific outreach activities in Tokyo.

Research Interests

Experience