Yoshikazu Inoue, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Yoshikazu Inoue is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist specializing in interstitial lung diseases, with particular expertise in pulmonary fibrosis and rare lung diseases, including pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) and lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). A former President of the Fleischner Society, he has contributed extensively to international clinical practice guidelines and consensus statements on interstitial lung diseases published by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), European Respiratory Society (ERS), and Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS).

He previously served as Executive Director of the Clinical Research Center at NHO Kinki Chuo Chest Medical Center (KCCMC), one of Japan’s leading centers for respiratory medicine and research, and as Invited Professor at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine. Dr. Inoue currently serves as a Visiting Researcher at KCCMC’s Clinical Research Center and as an Advisor to the Osaka Anti-Tuberculosis Association, Osaka Fukujuji Hospital. After completing his clinical and research training at Ehime University, he studied the mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis in granulomatous lung diseases at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, Colorado. Since returning to Japan, he has led clinical and translational research in PAP, LAM, interstitial lung diseases, and pulmonary fibrosis.

Dr. Inoue has played a central role in numerous international multicenter clinical trials, serving as principal investigator, coordinating investigator, and scientific advisor in the development of novel diagnostic approaches and therapeutic strategies for PAP and LAM, including inhaled recombinant GM-CSF therapy, sirolimus, and antifibrotic treatments. He has also contributed to the NIH-funded Rare Lung Diseases Consortium and served on numerous international and domestic scientific committees.

Dr. Inoue has held numerous leadership positions at JRS, ATS, ERS, the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, the World Association for Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders, the Japanese Society of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders, and the Japanese Medical Society for Lung Surfactant and Biological Interface, and serves as the advisors to PAP, LAM, and interstitial lung disease patient advocacy organizations in Japan and the United States.