Additional Titles

 Director, SOAR internship program  

Related Links

The Murakami Laboratory

Location

Patients seen at

Mailing Address

In the News:

• Physician-Scientist and Transplant Nephrologist Naoka Murakami Joins WashU Nephrology Faculty
• WashU Nephrology Presents at NKF 2025 Spring Clinical Meetings
• 2025 NKF Annual Kidney Walk a Success!
• SOAR Interns Share Their Experiences
• Apply Now for the 2025 WashU Nephrology Summer Intern Research “SOAR” Program
• ASN Kidney Week 2024 Calendar

Education

Fellowship, Transplant Nephrology: Brigham and Women’s Hospital (2020)

Fellowship, General Nephrology: Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Mass General Hospital (2019)

Residency, Internal Medicine: Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, NY (2015)

Residency, Internal Medicine: Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan (2012)

MD: University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (2010)

PhD in Molecular Biology: University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (2009)

Clinical Interests

Kidney transplant rejection
Onconephrology
Palliative care for patients living with kidney diseases

Research Interests

The Murakami Lab’s research focuses on understanding the mechanism of autoimmune kidney diseases and kidney transplant rejection. The immune system in our body is trained to distinguish self (own tissues and cells) and non-self (bacteria or viral pathogens), and to eliminate non-self to protect ourselves from illness. The kidney is one of the most susceptible organs for autoimmune disease, but no specific treatments are available due to lack of fundamental understanding of the disease mechanisms. Our overall goal is to unlock the mechanism of auto- and allo-immunity by studying animal models and patient samples, and to develop therapies for autoimmune kidney diseases and transplant rejection.

Publications

Saleem N, Wang J, Rejuso A, Teixeira-Pinto A, Stephens JH, Wilson A, Kieu A, Gately RP, Boroumand F, Chung E, Bonevski B, Carlino MS, Carroll R, Lim WH, Craig JC, Murakami N*, Wong G*. Outcomes of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients With Advanced Cancers Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Systematic Review and Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis. JAMA Oncol. 2025 Jun 22:e252374. PMID: 40545616. (* co-senior authors)

Herrmann SM, Abudayyeh A, Gupta S, Gudsoorkar P, Klomjit N, Motwani SS, Karam
S, Costa E Silva VT, Khalid SB, Anand S, Kala J, Leaf DE, Murakami N, Rashidi A,
Wanchoo R, Kitchlu A. Diagnosis and management of immune checkpoint inhibitor-
associated nephrotoxicity: a position statement from the American Society of
Onco-nephrology. Kidney Int. 2025 Jan;107(1):21-32. PMID: 39455026.

Hanna GJ, Dharanesswaran H, Giobbie-Hurder A, Harran JJ, Liao Z, Pai L, Tchekmedyian V, Ruiz ES, Waldman AH, Schmults CD, Riella LV, Lizotte P, Paweletz CP, Chandraker AK, Murakami N*, Silk AW*. Cemiplimab for Kidney Transplant Recipients With Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 2024; 42(9):1021-1030. PMID: 38252908. (co-senior authors)

DiToro D, Murakami N, Pillai S. T-B Collaboration in Autoimmunity, Infection, and Transplantation. Transplantation. 2024 Feb 1;108(2):386-398. PMID: 37314442.

Yeung MY*, Murakami N*, Kafetzi ML*, Simmons DP, Wood I, Macaskill P, Towle M, Della Gatta J, Stevens J, Comeau E, Baronas J, Mohsin N, Chen M, Lee JH, Lane WJ, Milford EL, Guleria I. Impact of allele-specific anti-HLA class I antibodies on organ allocation. Am J Transplant. 2023 May 29:S1600-6135(23)00487-2. PMID: 37257653. (*co-first authors)

Dunlap GS, DiToro D, Henderson J, Shah SI, Manos M, Severgnini M, Weins A, Guleria I, Ott PA, Murakami N*, Rao DA*. Clonal dynamics of alloreactive T cells in kidney allograft rejection after anti-PD-1 therapy. Nat Commun. 2023 Mar 21;14(1):1549. PMID: 36941274. (*co-senior authors)

Murakami N, Borges TJ, Win TS, Abarzua P, Tasigiorgos S, Kollar B, Barrera V, Sui SH, Teague JE, Bueno E, Clark RA, Lian CG, Murphy GF, Pomahac B, Riella LV. Low-dose IL-2 promotes immune regulation in face transplantation: A pilot study. Am J Transplant. 2023 Feb 3:S1600-6135(23)00239-3. PMID: 36740193.

Gassen RB, Borges TJ, Pérez-Sáez MJ, Zhang H, Al Jurdi A, Llinàs-Mallol L, Aoyama B, Lima M, Pascual J, Sage PT, Murakami N, Riella LV. T cell depletion increases humoral response by favoring T follicular helper cells expansion. Am J Transplant. 2022 Jul;22(7):1766-1778. PMID: 35320600.

Kawashima S, Joachim K, Abdelrahim M, Abudayyeh A, Jhaveri KD, Murakami N. Immune checkpoint inhibitors for solid organ transplant recipients: clinical updates. Korean Journal of Transplantation. 2022; 36(2): 82-98. PMID: 35919193.

Borges TJ, Murakami N, Lape IT, Gassen RB, Liu K, Cai S, Daccache J, Safa K, Shimizu T, Ohori S, Paterson AM, Cravedi P, Azzi J, Sage PT, Sharpe AH, Li XC, Riella LV. Overexpression of PD-1 on T cells Promotes Tolerance in Cardiac Transplantation via ICOS-Dependent Mechanism. JCI Insight. 2021 Dec 22;6(24):e142909. PMID: 34752418.

Adam BA, Murakami N, Reid G, Du K, Jasim R, Boils CL, Bu L, Hill PD, Murray AG, Renaudin K, Roufosse C, Weins A, Wen K, Riella LV, Mengel M. Gene Expression Profiling in Kidney Transplants With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Associated Adverse Events. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021; 16:1376. PMID: 34244334. PMC8729568.

Win TS, Crisler WJ, Dyring-Andersen B, Lopdrup R, Teague JE, Zhan Q, Barrera V, Ho Sui S, Tasigiorgos S, Murakami N, Chandraker A, Tullius SG, Pomahac B, Riella LV, Clark RA. Immunoregulatory and Lipid Presentation Pathways Are Upregulated in Human Face Transplant Rejection. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2021; 131(8):e135166. PMID: 33667197. PMC8262560.

Murakami N, Mulvaney P, Danesh M, Abudayyeh A, Diab A, Abdel-Wahab N, Abdelrahim M, Khairallah P, Shirazian S, Kukla A, Owoyemi IO, Alhamad T, Husami S, Menon M, Santeusanio A, Blosser C, Zuniga SC, Soler MJ, Moreso F, Mithani Z, Ortiz-Melo D, Jaimes EA, Gutgarts V, Lum E, Danovitch GM, Cardarelli F, Drews RE, Bassil C, Swank JL, Westphal S, Mannon RB, Shirai K, Kitchlu A, Ong S, Machado SM, Mothi SS, Ott PA, Rahma O, Hodi FS, Sise ME, Gupta S, Leaf DE, Devoe CE, Wanchoo R, Nair VV, Schmults CD, Hanna GJ, Sprangers B, Riella LV, Jhaveri KD. A Multi-Center Study on Safety and Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Cancer Patients With Kidney Transplant. Kidney Int. 2021; 100(1): 196. PMID: 33359528.  PMC8222056.

Magee CN*, Murakami N*, Borges TJ, Shimizu T, Safa K, Ohori S, Cai S, Uffing A, Azzi J, Elyaman W, Charbonnier LM, Liu K, Toprak D, Visner G, Chatila TA, Siebel CW, Najafian N, Riella LV. Notch-1 Inhibition Promotes Immune Regulation in Transplantation Via Regularory T Cell-Dependent Mechanisms. 2019; 140:846-63. PMID: 31266349. PMC6722011.