Masafumi Ihara

Dr. Ihara is Director of neurology at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center (NCVC), Osaka, Japan. He graduated from Kyoto University School of Medicine in 1995 and received clinical training at Kyoto University Hospital in 1995 and the Nishi-Kobe Medical Center from 1995 to 1999. In 1999, he entered Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine and completed a Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2003. He received his neuropathological training under the supervision of Prof. Kalaria at Newcastle University, UK from 2006 to 2008. He led a neurovascular research group as an Assistant Professor of  the Department of neurology in Kyoto University (2008-2012) and as a Deputy Director of the  Department of Regenerative Medicine Research in the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation (IBRI), Kobe (2012-2013).

Since he moved to his current institute in 2013, his research has focused on the pathological changes in brain blood vessels and how the alterations impact on brain health during old age. He is a Fellow of the Japanese Society of Neurology, the American College of Physicians (FACP), and of the American Heart Association (FAHA).

In NCVC, Dr. Ihara is involved in a multitude of research projects including an exploration of rare genetic variants that contribute to large artery strokes, a clinical trial using vasoactive drugs for mild cognitive impairment (COMCID trial) and a national survey of post-stroke epilepsy.