Dale T. Umetsu

Dale T. Umetsu is an American academic physician, immunologist and pharmaceutical executive, who currently serves as clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University and clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. [] Previously, he served as the Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. and as a tenured professor of pediatrics at Stanford University.

Umetsu earned a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry from Columbia University, followed by an MD and PhD in medicine and immunology from New York University. He completed his residency at Boston Children's Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

Research

Umetsu's research interests encompass the immunobiology of allergic diseases and asthma, focusing on subsets of CD4 T cells, NKT cells, Treg cells, innate lymphoid cells and the TIM gene family. He has published over 200 manuscripts [], holds nine patents, and has been working in translational medicine in asthma and food allergies.[] Umetsu's research has also demonstrated that omalizumab, an anti-IgE monoclonal antibody (Xolair, Genentech, South San Francisco, CA) can significantly reduce allergic reactions associated with food allergy, particularly in individuals with severe food allergies,[]. These studies led to his recruitment to Genentech, as Principal Medical Director and Global Development Lead, where he led efforts that culminated in a successful Phase 3 study (a collaboration between Genentech and the NIH) and subsequent FDA approval of omalizumab for food allergy in 2024.[]