Shinji Toki, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Toki’s long-term career goal is to establish himself as a productive, independent investigator in the field of immunobiology.
His most significant aims are: to determine the ability of prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) to regulate Alternaria-induced group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) activity; to determine the ability of PGI2 to regulate lipopolysaccharide-induced lung inflammation; and to determine the ability of PGI2 to regulate allergic inflammation through thymic stromal lymphopoietin production.
Dr. Toki is publishing as first author and has presented his work at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI) annual international conference. He is a key researcher in the laboratory of Dr. Stokes Peebles, Jr., at Vanderbilt. One of his research areas is studying the link between obesity and asthma and exploring new therapeutic strategies for uncontrolled asthma with obesity.
Shinji received his master’s degree from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and his Ph.D. from Kochi University in Japan. He was working in Nippon Meat Packers, Inc., R&D center during 1998 to 2009. He had postdoctoral training in Peebles Lab at Vanderbilt University during 2010 to 2015. His research aims to determine the mechanisms of allergic immune responses, and novel therapeutic strategies for allergic pulmonary disorders. More specifically, his work focuses on aeroallergen-induced allergic immune responses mediated by innate lymphoid cells to investigate the drug utilization.