Harvey Akio Itano (Japanese: ハーベイ・アキオ・イタノ[1], November 3, 1920 – May 8, 2010) was an American biochemist best known for his work on the molecular basis of sickle cell anemia and other diseases.

[3] In 1979, Itano became the first Japanese American elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences (in the Genetics section).

[6] However, due to Executive Order 9066, Itano missed commencement in Berkeley after he and his family were sent to the Tanforan Assembly center, prior to being sent to the Tule Lake internment camp.

[7] Itano was later allowed to leave camp to attend the St. Louis University medical school, earning his M.D.

[9] After failing with a number of other techniques, Itano succeeded in differentiating normal and sickle cell hemoglobins using moving boundary electrophoresis.