Kimishige Ishizaka is remembered in medicine for work that altered practice rather than merely argument.
The record lists Kimishige Ishizaka as Japanese Immunologist (1925-2018).
Kimishige Ishizaka was born at Tokyo in 1925. His recorded nationality is Japan. He trained at University of Tokyo.
Antibiotics, imaging and the randomised trial defined twentieth-century medicine; evidence replaced authority as the standard.
His posts were held at Johns Hopkins University, Kyoto University and University of Colorado Denver.
The recorded fields of work are immunology, medicine and allergology.
Most medical progress is invisible: it shows up as an illness that no longer kills anyone.
Recognition followed: Order of Culture (1974), Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1973), Asahi Prize (1973) and Japan Prize (2000).
That the work was done from Japan matters: hospitals, training and research funding are unevenly distributed, and they decide which questions can be asked.
Kimishige Ishizaka died in 2018, aged 93. What survives is the change in practice, which is how a medical life is actually measured.
Achievements
- Order of Culture — 1974
- Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize — 1973
- Asahi Prize — 1973
- Japan Prize — 2000
- Imperial Prize of Japan Academy — 1974
- Held posts at Johns Hopkins University, Kyoto University and University of Colorado Denver
- Fields: immunology, medicine and allergology
