Dr. Jiro Aoyama is a board-certified neurosurgeon and physician scientist with research interests in vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis. Dr. Aoyama obtained his MD at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University in Tokyo, Japan and went on to pursue a medical residency and subsequent career as an attending neurosurgeon. Additionally, he was appointed as a senior lecturer and later promoted to assistant professor within the Department of Neurosurgery at his alma mater.  

After serving patients in the clinical setting by performing both open brain/spine surgeries and endo-neurovascular procedures, Jiro felt inspired by preventative neurology, so he returned to Tokyo Medical and Dental University as a PhD student under the advisement of Dr. Masayuki Yoshida. His research focused on vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis from both basic and clinical perspectives. His most notable findings during his PhD studies belonged to a study revealing that high-fat-diet-induced adhesion of neutrophils to vascular endothelial cells is enhanced by CXCL1-stimulated nuclear translocation of PAD4, leading to citrullination of PDIA1, actin polymerization, and β2 integrin activation (Aoyama J et al., J Atheroscler Thromb, 2021). Jiro was awarded the 1st prize Young Investigator Award from the Japan Atherosclerosis Society for these novel findings. Additionally, he was awarded the Medical Association Award and Medical Research Encouragement Award by Tokyo Medical and Dental University before concluding his PhD studies in 2022. In 2023, Jiro received the Tanaka Michiko Memorial Clinical Research Encouragement Award from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Alumni Association. Realizing that expanding his breadth of knowledge to include a comprehensive understanding and investigation of macrophage and monocyte biology could someday facilitate the development of novel therapies for countless patients, Jiro decided to pursue research further and applied for and received the Suzuki Manpei Diabetes Foundation, Nakatomi Foundation, and Mochida Memorial Foundation for Medical and Pharmaceutical Research grants, which brought him here, to CICS in Boston. 

Dr. Aoyama joined CICS in the fall of 2024 as a research fellow under the guidance of Dr. Masanori Aikawa. His aim is to further understand the mechanisms underlying vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis through cutting-edge technologies such as molecular imaging, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, systems biology, innovative animal models, and artifical intelligence.