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Richard Yanagihara, M.D., M.P.H.

Principal Investigator
Professor
Department of Pediatrics
John A. Burns School of Medicine


Phone: 808-692-1610
Office: BSB 320L
Email: yanagiha [at] pbrc.hawaii.edu

Bio

Education
1968 B.A. University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
1972 M.D. University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio
1985 M.P.H. Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland

Professional History
1971 Student Intern, Pasgeboren, Sophia Kinderziekenhuis, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Henryk K.A. Visser, M.D.)
Student Intern, Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Western Bank, Sheffield, England (Ronald S. Illingworth, M.D.)
Student Intern, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (Robert H. Gifford, Jr., M.D.)
1972-1973 Intern, Pediatrics (PL-1), Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Medical Center, Denver, Colorado (C. Henry Kempe, M.D.)
1973-1974 Resident, Pediatrics (PL-2), Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Medical Center, Denver, Colorado (Frederick C. Battaglia, M.D.)
1974-1976 Research Associate, Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (D. Carleton Gajdusek, M.D.)
1976-1977 Resident, Pediatrics (PL-3), Department of Pediatrics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California (Melvin M. Grumbach, M.D.)
1977-1979 Fellow, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado (Kenneth McIntosh, M.D.)
1979-1982 Research Physician, NINCDS Research Center, Tamuning, Guam, and Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
1982-1984 Special Expert, Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
1985-1988 Medical Officer (tenured) and Project Officer, Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick, Maryland
1988-1990 Senior Investigator and Project Officer, Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick, Maryland
1990-1995 Section Chief (Research) and Project Officer, Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Frederick, Maryland
1995-2002 Director, Retrovirology Research Laboratory, Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program, Pacific Biomedical Research Center, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
1996-2001 Leader, Human Retroviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens Activity, Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program, Pacific Biomedical Research Center, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
1999-2000 Associate Program Director, Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program, Pacific Biomedical Research Center, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2000-2011 Director, Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i
2002-present Professor (tenured), Department of Pediatrics, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i

Research Keywords: Hantavirus, viral zoonoses, Soricomorpha, Chiroptera


Research Overview

Formerly a tenured intramural NIH investigator, Dr. Richard Yanagihara joined the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa through an interagency personnel agreement in 1995 to assist in building capacity for a laboratory-based retrovirology research program. He has served as the RCMI Program Director since 2000 and as the principal investigator of the Pacific Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research since 2003. As such, he has played a critical role in coordinating the development of much-needed infrastructure for infectious diseases research, which has involved direct mentoring of junior and mid-career faculty, as well as developing programs that award modest grant support for pilot projects, as well as bridging funds to faculty who are transitioning off of career development or departmental institutional support. Prior to joining the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Dr. Yanagihara was the on-site NINDS Project Officer of a ABSL-3/BSL-3 primate facility within the Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies in Frederick, Maryland, where he supervised postdoctoral fellows and visiting scientists. His scientific explorations have taken the form of problem-based, disease-oriented, long-term, high-risk, multidisciplinary, opportunistic investigations of medically urgent phenomena of worldwide importance, conducted largely in the context of exploiting naturally occurring paradigms of high-incidence “place diseases” among human populations isolated by virtue of their genetics, culture and/or geography.

Selected Publications

Grants

  • Grant No / Title: P20GM103516 / Pacific Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research
    Status / Agency: Ongoing / NIH/NIGMS
    Start Date / End Date: 16 September 2010 / 30 June 2015
  • Grant No / Title: R01AI075057 / Intraspecies Transmission and Infectivity of Insectivore-Borne Hantaviruses
    Status / Agency: Ongoing / NIH/NIAID
    Start Date / End Date: 08 August 2008 / 31 July 2013