木下 茂

Dr. Shigeru Kinoshita, a clinician scientist, graduated from Osaka University Medical School in 1974, and has served as the Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine since 1992. Because of his stepping down from the Chair of Ophthalmology in March 2015, He was elected the Professor and Chair of Frontier Medical Science and Technology for Ophthalmology at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in April 2015. And, he has been continuously working as a distinguished clinician scientist.
In the early 1980s at Harvard Medical School, he, in collaboration with Dr. Richard A. Thoft, established the concept of centripetal movement of corneal epithelium, and his groundbreaking work has shed new light on the importance of limbal epithelium. His series of findings has had an enormous impact on this subject and has afforded much insight, ultimately contributing to the development of the corneal stem cell theory set forth by Tuen-Tien Sun. Based on these concepts, Dr. Kinoshita developed a new surgical procedure for in vivo corneal epithelial transplantation that has led to epithelial stem cell transplantation for ocular surface rehabilitation. Over the past 30 years, his primary interest has been focused on the translational research of new therapeutic modalities for severe corneal diseases. Following this path, his group has recently established the system of cultivated mucosal epithelial stem cell transplantation for severe ocular surface disorders such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome and chemical injury, and cultivated corneal endothelial cell transplantation for bullous keratopathy. His group also proved the clinical efficacy of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK)-inhibitor topical application for partial endothelial dysfunction, aiming at the development of novel therapies for corneal endothelial dysfunction.
  Kinoshita is a recipient of the 1999 Alcon Research Institute Award, the 2008 Castroviejo Medal Lecturer of the Cornea Society, the 2009 ARVO Gold Fellow, the 2010 Claes H. Dohlman Conference Address of the TFOS, the 2010 Meibom Lecturer in Germany, the Doyne Memorial Lecturer of the 2011 Oxford Ophthalmological Congress in United Kingdam, the 2011 Elsemay Bjorn Lecture in Finland, Schepens Eye Research Institute Almunus Awardee 2011, the Peter Herberg Lecture at IMCLC2012, the Richard Lindstrom Lecture, CLAO, ASCRS 2014, Charles D. Kelman Inovator Award, ASCRS 2015, the Friedenwal Award Lecturer at the ARVO 2016, The Coster Lecture at the Australian and New Zealand Cornea Society 2017, David Easty Lecture at the  Bowman’s Club 2017, Memorial Lecture of Professor Yang Yen Fei at Taiwan Ophthalmological Society 2020, the Plenary Lecturer of the 8th World Cornea Congress 2022, Harold Stein Innovator Lecture of Canadian Ophthalmological Society 2023, The Ophthalmologist's Hall of Fame 2023, and Sir Norman Gregg Lecture at RANZCO (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists) 2023, the Kanski Keynote Lecture at WSPOS V World Congress 2024, and the Lindstrom Corneal Surgical Innovation Prize, World Cornea Congress IX 2025. He served as an ARVO Program Committee Member in the Cornea Section between 1996 and 1999, the ARVO Trustee of the Cornea Section between 2006 and 2011, and the ARVO Vice President in 2010-2011. He is the immediate-past president of the Asia Cornea Society. He is the President of the Japanese Society of Tissue Transplantation.