Dr. Masao Takata

Biography

Professor Takata holds the Sir Ivan Magill Chair in Anaesthetics at Imperial College London. He is an expert in Molecular Physiology and Critical Care, serving as an Honorary Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital. He has been the Head of the Division of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine & Intensive Care in the Department of Surgery & Cancer since 2009. Originally trained as a paediatric anaesthetist and intensivist in Japan and Canada, he has received extensive research training in respiratory physiology at Johns Hopkins University, vascular molecular biology at Harvard University, and immunology/cytokine biology at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in the UK. Professor Takata joined Imperial in 1998 and has been based at the Chelsea & Westminster campus since 2001. Over the years, he has established an internationally unique translational research programme in respiratory critical care medicine, supported by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, and various charity and industry grants. His research group bridges the gap between basic science and clinical medicine, focusing on investigating molecular inflammatory mechanisms involved in acute lung injury, ventilator-induced lung injury, and sepsis-associated organ injury, utilizing a combination of in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro methodologies for clinical translational studies in perioperative critical care patients. Specific research interests include novel inflammatory mechanisms and therapies for acute lung injury and ventilator-induced lung injury, roles of extracellular vesicles in acute respiratory distress syndrome and systemic organ injuries in critical care, and emerging diagnostic and therapeutic targets for respiratory infections such as COVID-19 and influenza. The research group has developed a wide range of collaborations with the College and affiliated NHS hospitals and institutions across the UK, Europe, and Japan.

Research Interests