Nobu Ishibashi

Dr. Ishibashi joined the faculty of Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in March 2025 as a Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology. Prior to this transition, he spent 19 years to Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, where he served as a Principal Investigator at the Center for Neuroscience Research and Director of the Cardiac Surgery Research Laboratory, and held the Foglia-Hills Chair for Pediatric Cardiac Research. Dr. Ishibashi earned his medical degree from Gunma University School of Medicine in Japan in 1998. He completed clinical training in Surgery, Cardiovascular Surgery, and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at the Heart Institute of Japan, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, obtaining certifications from both the Japanese Board of Surgery and the Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery. He further advanced his research training through a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children’s National Hospital. His research focuses on understanding the impact of congenital heart disease (CHD) and subsequent cardiac surgery on brain development. As Principal Investigator on multiple NIH- and DoD-funded grants, Dr. Ishibashi utilizes advanced neuroscience techniques and clinically relevant animal models to study neurodevelopment. He is particularly recognized for pioneering work on the relationship between the subventricular zone and cortical growth in CHD, earning distinction in both the cardiovascular and neuroscience fields. Dr. Ishibashi's ultimate goal as a clinician-scientist is to improve treatment strategies and develop novel therapeutics to mitigate neurodevelopmental impairments in children with CHD. His translational research program has achieved key milestones, including the development of the NIH-funded Phase 1 MeDCaP clinical trial at Children’s National Hospital. This trial, which he led as Principal Investigator, demonstrated the safety and feasibility of a cell-based therapeutic approach.