Izumi Kawachi

Medical Education Center
Niigata University School of Medicine
Dept. of Neurology
Brain Research Institute
Niigata University
Niigata | Japan

Izumi Kawachi, M.D., Ph.D. is presently an Associate Professor in Department of Neurology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, and Medical Education Center, Niigata University School of Medicine, Niigata, Japan. She is a councilor of the Japanese Society for Neuroimmunology, the Japanese Society for Neuropathology, the Japanese Society of Neurology and the Japanese Society of Neurological Therapeutics, as well as serving as a Member of the MS/NMOSD Guidelines Committee 2017 and 2024 in Japan. Dr. Kawachi graduated from Niigata University in 1993 (MD) and earned her PhD from Niigata University in 2002. Dr. Kawachi undertook training in neurology at Brain Research Institute, Niigata University and then engaged in research of innate immunology as a research associate in Prof. Marco Colonna’s lab, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University, School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA. Her principal research activity has been in neuroimmunological diseases including multiple sclerosis, neuromyeltis optica spectrum disorders, autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic syndrome, based on clinical, immunological and neuropathological studies.

Representative publications:

1. Nakajima A, Yanagimura F, Saji E, Shimizu H, Toyoshima Y, Yanagawa K, Arakawa M, Hokari M, Yokoseki A, Wakasugi T, Okamoto K, Takebayashi H, Fujii C, Itoh K, Takei YI, Ohara S, Yamada M, Takahashi H, Nishizawa M, Igarashi H, Kakita A, Onodera O, Kawachi I. Stage-dependent immunity orchestrates AQP4 antibody-guided NMOSD pathology: A role for netting neutrophils with resident memory T cells in situ. Acta Neuropathologica147(1):76, 2024.
2. Kawachi I, Lassmann H. Neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 88, 137-145, 2017.
3. Hokari M, Yokoseki A, Arakawa M, Saji E, Yanagawa K, Yanagimura F, Toyoshima Y, Okamoto K, Ueki S, Hatase T, Ohashi R, Fukuchi T, Akazawa K, Yamada M, Kakita A, Takahashi H, Nishizawa M, Kawachi I. Clinicopathological features in anterior visual pathway in neuromyelitis optica. Annals of Neurology 79(4), 605-624, 2016.
4. Yokoseki A, Saji E, Arakawa M, Kosaka T, Hokari M, Toyoshima Y, Okamoto K, Takeda S, Sanpei K, Kikuchi H, Hirohata S, Akazawa K, Kakita A, Takahashi H, Nishizawa M, and Kawachi I. Hypertrophic pachymeningitis: significance of myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody. Brain137(2), 520-536, 2014.
5. Saji E, Arakawa M, Yanagawa K, Toyoshima Y, Yokoseki A, Okamoto K, Otsuki M, Akazawa K, Kakita A, Takahashi H, Nishizawa M, Kawachi I. Cognitive impairment and cortical degeneration in neuromyelitis optica. Annals of Neurology 73(1), 65-76, 2013.
6. Yanagawa K, Kawachi I, Toyoshima Y, Yokoseki A, Arakawa M, Hasegawa A, Ito T, Kojima N, Koike R, Tanaka K, Kosaka T, Tan CF, Kakita A, Okamoto K, Tsujita M, Sakimura K, Takahashi H, Nishizawa M. Pathologic and immunologic profiles of a limited form of neuromyelitis optica with myelitis. Neurology 73, 1628-37, 2009.
7. Kawachi I, Maldonado J, Strader C, Gilfillan S. MR1-restricted V alpha 19i mucosal-associated invariant T cells are innate T cells in the gut lamina propria that provide a rapid and diverse cytokine response. Journal of Immunology 176, 1618-1627, 2006.
8. Titulaer MJ, McCracken L, Gabilondo I, Armangué T, Glaser C, Iizuka T, Honig LS, Benseler SM, Kawachi I, Martinez-Hernandez E, Aguilar E, Gresa-Arribas N, Ryan-Florance N, Torrents A, Saiz A, Rosenfeld MR, Balice-Gordon R, Graus F, Dalmau J. Treatment and prognostic factors for long-term outcome in patients with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis: an observational cohort study. Lancet Neurology 12(2), 157-65, 2013.
9. Kitamura A, Maekawa Y, Uehara H, Izumi K, Kawachi I, Nishizawa M, Toyoshima Y, Takahashi H, Standley DM, Tanaka K, Hamazaki J, Murata S, Obara K, Toyoshima I, Yasutomo K: A mutation in the immunoproteasome subunit PSMB8 causes autoinflammation and lipodystrophy in humans. Journal of Clinical Investigation 121, 4150-60, 2011.
10. Date H, Onodera O, Tanaka H, Iwabuchi K, Uekawa K, Igarashi S, Koike R, Hiroi T, Yuasa T, Awaya Y, Sakai T, Takahashi T, Nagatomo H, Sekijima Y, Kawachi I, Takiyama Y, Nishizawa M, Fukuhara N, Saito K, Sugano S, Tsuji S. Early-onset ataxia with ocular motor apraxia and hypoalbuminemia is caused by mutations in a new HIT superfamily gene. Nature Genetics 29, 184-188, 2001.