Dr. Nagao graduated from Keio University School of Medicine (Tokyo, Japan) and is a Dermatologist with a long-standing interest in immune-mediated skin diseases. Dr. Nagao was recruited to the NIH in 2014 and currently directs a research program that includes basic and translational investigations on skin immunology.

Work from Dr. Nagao’s laboratory has identified hair follicles to be control-towers of skin immune system that support the homeostasis and tissue-residency of dendritic cells and T cells through the production of chemokines and cytokines. Recent work from his laboratory has demonstrated that innate lymphoid cell-hair follicle crosstalk engaged in homeostatic control of the sebaceous glands that regulated the equilibrium of commensal bacteria on skin surface. His laboratory has also generated a mouse model for atopic dermatitis that spontaneously develop eczematous lesions and exhibit naturally occurring dysbiosis. Using this model, Staphylococcus aureus was demonstrated to be a critical element of eczema formation.

Dr. Nagao currently extends his research to better understand how altered host-microbe interactions may contribute to disease pathology directly in humans, with a particular focus on drug hypersensitivity and monogenic atopic diseases.