In memoriam: Tadashi Inagami
Tadashi Inagami, an emeritus biochemistry professor at Vanderbilt University known for his pioneering research contributions to hypertension, heart failure, and vascular disease, died on March 13 in Pittsburgh. He was 92.

Born in Kobe, Japan, on Feb. 20, 1931, Inagami earned a bachelor’s degree in nutritional chemistry from Kyoto University in 1953. In 1958, he earned a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Yale University through the Fulbright Foreign Student Program. He earned a second doctoral degree from Kyoto University in 1963.
In 1966, Inagami became an assistant professor in biochemistry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he developed a reputation for being helpful, generous with his time, polite, gentle, and humble. He remained at Vanderbilt until his retirement in 2014.
Inagami was the first researcher to purify mouse renin and obtain its primary structure. He identified and cloned the angiotensin II type 1 receptor and angiotensin type 2 receptor, deepening understanding of angiotensin II signal transduction and its role in cardiovascular health. He also characterized the primary structure of the rat atrial natriuretic peptide hormone, which upregulates salt excretion and lowers blood volume resulting in low blood pressure. He discovered that the angiotensin II signaling pathway leads to high cell proliferation in the heart, kidney, and blood vessel walls. These findings contributed to creation of medication to lower hypertension, such as angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockers, and treatments for heart failure and vascular and kidney disease.
For 17 years, Inagami served as director of the interdisciplinary Specialized Center of Research in Hypertension at Vanderbilt. He published more than 500 scientific articles and mentored more than 100 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. His many accolades included the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Distinguished Scientist Award, the CIBA Award for Hypertension Research, and the Japan Academy Prize. Vanderbilt honored him with the Earl Sutherland Prize for Achievement in Research in 1990.
After his retirement, Inagami and his wife, Masako, moved to Pittsburgh, where he loved attending his grandchildren’s baseball games and dance and violin recitals, and he enjoyed strolling through Squirrel Hill and Frick Park and exploring Japanese restaurants.
He is survived by his wife, Masako Inagami; daughters, Sanae Inagami and Mari Inagami; son-in-law, Ananth Krishnamurthy; and five grandchildren.
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in People
People highlights or most popular articles

Meet Robert Helsley
The Journal of Lipid Research junior associate editor studies chronic liver disease and was the first in his family to attend college.

Exploring life’s blueprint: Gene expression in development and evolution
Meet Julia Zeitlinger and David Arnosti — two co-chairs of the ASBMB’s 2025 meeting on gene expression, to be held June 26-29, in Kansas City, Missouri.

ASBMB names 2025 fellows
͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology honors 24 members for their service to the society and accomplishments in research, education, mentorship, diversity and inclusion and advocacy.

When Batman meets Poison Ivy
Jessica Desamero had learned to love science communication by the time she was challenged to explain the role of DNA secondary structure in halting cancer cell growth to an 8th-grade level audience.

The monopoly defined: Who holds the power of science communication?
“At the official competition, out of 12 presenters, only two were from R2 institutions, and the other 10 were from R1 institutions. And just two had distinguishable non-American accents.”

In memoriam: Donald A. Bryant
He was a professor emeritus at Penn State University who discovered how cyanobacteria adapt to far-red light and was a member of the ͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology for over 35 years.