Hirofumi Kiyokawa MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Postdoctoral Associate (previously held), Center for Regenerative Medicine
670 Albany St | (617) 358-0376hirofumi@bu.edu
Sections
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Biography
Hirofumi Kiyokawa, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. He is a physician-scientist specializing in airway stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. His research focuses on understanding how airway epithelial stem cells fail in disease and on developing stem cell-based therapies to restore lung function. Trained in both clinical pulmonary medicine and basic science, his work integrates developmental biology, single-cell genomics, and stem cell engineering to address chronic lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.
Dr. Kiyokawa received his MD and PhD in respiratory medicine from Kyoto University, followed by clinical training in internal and pulmonary medicine in Japan. He then pursued postdoctoral research at RIKEN, where he studied mechanisms regulating airway basal stem cell proliferation during development and regeneration. His work demonstrated that airway basal stem cells reutilize embryonic programs, including the Tgfβ-Id2 axis, to control proliferation and tissue repair (Developmental Cell, 2021).
Since joining Dr. Darrell N. Kotton’s laboratory at Boston University, Dr. Kiyokawa has focused on regenerative approaches using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). He has developed expertise in generating iPSC-derived airway basal cells (iBCs) and contributed to establishing a novel intra-airway transplantation platform that enables functional reconstitution of the airway stem cell compartment (Cell Stem Cell, 2023).
His current research aims to define the molecular basis of airway stem cell aging and to test whether youthful stem cell states can be harnessed to restore tissue function in aged or diseased lungs. By combining single-cell transcriptomics, epigenomics, and in vivo transplantation, his work seeks to establish cell replacement therapy as a transformative strategy for chronic lung diseases.
Education
MD, Kyoto University
Medical Science, PhD
Publications
Fujimoto K, Kogo M, Kobayashi H, Ogura M, Ozaki T, Kiyokawa H, Natori D, Okamori H, Nishi K, Yamanaka H, Iwashima D, Takahashi K. Tolerability and effectiveness of definitive chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced lung cancer patients with combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema. Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2026 May 25; 48:101262. PMID: 42225006.
Published on 12/1/2025Sakai T, Kawakita M, Seki A, Takaoka K, Kurata M, Torikai J, Atsumi S, Yawata K, Noi K, Fukutani Y, Noguchi K, Kiyokawa H, Morimoto M, Takeuchi E, Minegishi K, Aoki Y, Fujimura S, Nishizaka T, Inoue T, Nagaoka K, Tsugawa H, Hayashi H, Ishiguro H, Kozono T, Ohsawa I, Fujita Y, Matsunami H, Hamada H, Shinohara K. Tppp3 determines basal body positioning and identity of respiratory cilia via microtubule assembly and sphingolipid homeostasis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Dec 09; 122(49):e2503931122. PMID: 41325527.
Published on 10/6/2025Yabaji SM, Lata S, Tseng AE, Araveti PB, Lo M, Gavrish I, O'Connell AK, Gertje HP, Belkina AC, Thurman CE, Kiyokawa H, Kotton D, Tan S, Endsley JJ, Bishai WR, Crossland N, Kobzik L, Kramnik I. Dysplastic lung repair fosters a tuberculosis-promoting microenvironment through maladaptive macrophage polarization. PLoS Pathog. 2025 Oct; 21(10):e1013563. PMID: 41052208.
Published on 5/1/2025Berical AC, Kiyokawa H, Beermann ML, Wallman D, Cherfane G, Dunphy V, Pan J, Tilston-Lunel A, Varelas X, Horani A, Brody SL, Kotton DN, Hawkins FJ. Reply to Huang et al.: Sowing Tailored Seeds: Gene-edited Basal Cells for Precision Regulation of Airway Phenotypes. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025 May; 211(5):884. PMID: 39999444.
Published on 3/4/2025Yabaji SM, Lata S, Tseng AE, Araveti PB, Lo M, Gavrish I, O'Connell AK, Gertje HP, Belkina AC, Thurman CE, Kiyokawa H, Kotton D, Tan S, Endsley JJ, Bishai WR, Crossland N, Kobzik L, Kramnik I. Aberrant macrophage activation and maladaptive lung repair promote tuberculosis progression uniquely in the lung. bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 04. PMID: 40093068.
Published on 1/1/2025Berical AC, Kiyokawa H, Beermann ML, Wallman D, Cherfane G, Dunphy V, Pan J, Tilston-Lunel A, Varelas X, Horani A, Brody SL, Kotton DN, Hawkins FJ. Airway Disease Modeling with Gene-Edited Human Basal Cell Transplantation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2025 Jan; 211(1):131-134. PMID: 39514838.
Published on 8/24/2023Ma L, Thapa BR, Le Suer JA, Tilston-Lünel A, Herriges MJ, Berical A, Beermann ML, Wang F, Bawa PS, Kohn A, Ysasi AB, Kiyokawa H, Matte TM, Randell SH, Varelas X, Hawkins FJ, Kotton DN. Airway stem cell reconstitution by the transplantation of primary or pluripotent stem cell-derived basal cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2023 Sep 07; 30(9):1199-1216.e7. PMID: 37625411.
Published on 9/7/2021Kiyokawa H, Hoshino Y, Sakaguchi K, Muro S, Yodoi J. Redox Regulation in Aging Lungs and Therapeutic Implications of Antioxidants in COPD. Antioxidants (Basel). 2021 Sep 07; 10(9). PMID: 34573061.
Published on 6/14/2021Kiyokawa H, Yamaoka A, Matsuoka C, Tokuhara T, Abe T, Morimoto M. Airway basal stem cells reutilize the embryonic proliferation regulator, Tgfß-Id2 axis, for tissue regeneration. Dev Cell. 2021 Jul 12; 56(13):1917-1929.e9. PMID: 34129836.
Published on 5/6/2021Kiyokawa H, Morimoto M. Molecular crosstalk in tracheal development and its recurrence in adult tissue regeneration. Dev Dyn. 2021 Nov; 250(11):1552-1567. PMID: 33840142.