Azuma Arata MD, PhD

Dr. Azuma is Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo. After completing basic research training in Immunology department at Juntendo University and clinical clerkship at SL Central Hospital at Nagoya, he received medical degree at Nippon Medical School.

His major research interests include: pathogenesis and treatment of interstitial lung diseases, particularly idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and around diseases, chronic airway inflammation such as diffuse panbronchiolitis, bronchiolitis obliterance, cystic fibrosis, follicular bronchiolitis associated with connective tissue diseases, occupational lung diseases, granulomatous disorders including sarcoidosis, and hypersensitivity pneumonia, and other rare lung diseases.

He mainly contributed on recent development of anti-fibrotic agents, such as pirfenidone and nintedanib, introducing to the clinical use of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He is on the associate editor and an editorial board member of some subspecialty journals, and his publications include over 100 original papers, some review articles and/or book chapters. From October 22, 2017 until 2020 he is President of the World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous disorders (WASOG).