中尾 龍馬

NAKAO LAB

*We are currently looking for any collaboration oppotunity with academia as well as industry interested in our scope. We also welcome Ms and PhD student and post-doc candidates from japan and oversea countries. Please feel free to contact us for more infomation!

PROFILE: RYOMA NAKAO, DDS, PhD
Born in Tokyo, Ryoma Nakao is the head of Laboratory of Oral Bacterial Infection, Department of Bacteriology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan Institute of Health Security (JIHS). JIHS has been newly founded in 2025 as a center of excellence for infectious disease control, a so-called "Japan CDC".
Nakao's main research area has been immunopathology and etiology of periodontal diseases caused by periodontopathic bacteria, but is now expanding to develop novel prevention and treatment strategies against not only oral pathogens, but also intestinal and respiratory tract pathogens. He is also extensively working on R&D of a novel vaccine modality by using Bacterial Membrane Vesicles (BMVs). He in on a mission to addresses the question of the complex interplay between BMVs and immune systems, and is going to build a novel BMV-based vaccine platform generally applicable for infectious diseases in the health and security context.

CURRENT RESEARCH TOPICS
1. Establishment of novel vaccine platform using BMVs
(Nakao R et al. npj Vaccines in press) (Nakao R et al. mSphere 2025) (Yamaguchi T et al. Front Immunol. 2025) (Uchiyama H et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2024) (Nakao R et al. Vaccine. 2023) (Nakao R et al. NPJ Vaccines.  2022) (Hirayama S and Nakao R. Methods Mol Biol. 2021) (Nakamura T et al. Microb Infect. 2020) (Nakao R et al. Vaccine. 2016) (Bai D et al. Pathog Dis. 2015) (Nakao R et al. PLoS One. 2014) (Nakao R et al. Microb Infect. 2014) (Nakao et al. PLoS One. 2011)

2. Molecular mechanisms of BMV biogenesis and biofilm formation in various life stages of bacteria
(Takahara M et al. Microbiol Immunol. 2024) (Kanno M et al. Front Microbioll. 2023) (Sasaki Y et al. Microscopy. 2022) (Iwabuchi Y et al. Microorganisms. 2021) (Hirayama S and Nakao R. Microb Biotechnol. 2020) (Hirayama S and Nakao R. Methods Mol Biol. 2022) (Senpuku H et al. Molecules. 2019) (Nakao R et al. Front Microbiol. 2018) (Obana N et al. Infect Immun. 2017) (Nakao R et al. PLoS One. 2012)

3. Clinical research and development of anti-microbial/anti-biofilm compounds for oral diseases
(Nakao R et al. Microbiol Spectr. 2024) (Nakao R et al. Front Microbiol. 2022) (Nakao R et al. Pathogens. 2021) (Nakao R and Ueno T. BDJ Open. 2021) (Nakao R et al. Odontol. 2020) (Yoshimasu Y et al. J Dent Res. 2018) (Kariu T et al. J Periodont Res. 2017)

UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) numbers which Nakao has been involved in as principal investigator are as follows:

1. UMIN000013850, "Assessment of the effect of propolis and curry leaf on oral microbiota" Ryoma Nakao
2. UMIN000023016, "Oral-moisturizing gel for palliative medicine"
3. UMIN000025174, "preventive effect of propolis on periodontal disease and aspiration pneumonia in elderly"
4. UMIN000043182, "Effect of tea gargling on periodontal tissue"
5. UMIN000047168, "Cancer and oral bacteria"
6. UMIN000052974, "Effect of toothpaste containing fennel on periodontal disease" 

ACTIVITIES & EVENT EXPERIENCES
1. EMBO Workshop | Bacterial Membrane Vesicles: Biogenesis, functions and medical applications. 23-26 November, 2021. Hybrid meeting. Tsukuba, Japan. Main Organizer: Ryoma Nakao
2. AMED SCARDA Research and development into new modalities contributing to vaccine development II on "Development of outer membrane vesicle based vaccine platform". 2025-2027., PI: Ryoma Nakao
3. AMED Research Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases on "Intranasal Vaccine Using Bacterial Membrane Vesicles–For Establishment of the Research Platform and Development–". 2016-2019., PI: Ryoma Nakao

*1 EMBO (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development)
*2 AMED (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development)
*3 SCARDA (Strategic Center of Biomedical Advanced Vaccine Research and Development for Preparedness and Response)