Shizuo Akira (審良 静男, Akira Shizuo) (born January 27, 1953, in Higashiōsaka)[1] is a professor at the Department of Host Defense, Osaka University, Japan.

[2] He has made ground-breaking discoveries in the field of immunology, most significantly in the area of innate host defense mechanisms.

[5][6] Among his greatest discoveries is the demonstration, through the ablation of toll-like receptor (TLR)s genes, that TLRs recognize a discrete collection of molecules of microbial origin, and later the RNA helicases, RIG-I (retinoic-acid-inducible protein I) and MDA5 (melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5).

[7] All molecules belong to the pattern recognition receptors, which detects intruding pathogens and initiates antimicrobial responses in the host.

[8] In July 2021, Akira went missing while climbing Kannon peak in Tenkawa, Nara Prefecture, on his own.