Native name 廣川 信隆 Role Neuroscientist Nationality Japanese Alma mater University of Tokyo | Doctoral advisor Junnosuke Nakai Academic advisor Junnosuke Nakai Name Nobutaka Hirokawa | |
Born March 25, 1942
Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan ( 1942-03-25 ) Institutions University of Tokyo
Washington University
University of California, San Francisco Known for Kinesin
Electron Microscopy Fields Neuroscience, Cell biology Notable awards Japan Academy Prize, Asahi Prize Institution University of Tokyo, Washington University in St. Louis, University of California, San Francisco |
Nobutaka Hirokawa (廣川 信隆, Hirokawa Nobutaka) (born March 25, 1946) is a Japanese neuroscientist and cell biologist famous for research on the Kinesin superfamily of motor proteins. He has been President and Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Human Frontier Science Program since 2012.
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Contribution
Hirokawa's work is mostly focused on the molecular mechanisms involved in transporting materials within nerve cells, in particular in his discovery of many of the functions of the Kinesin superfamily of molecular motors.
Biography
Hirokawa was born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa and received his M.D. in 1971 and his Ph.D. in 1978 from The University of Tokyo in Japan; from 1979 to 1983 he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, San Francisco and as a research Assistant professor and an associate professor at Washington University in the US. On returning to Japan, he was appointed Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, where he served as the Dean from 2003 to 2007. He is now holds a Distinguished Project Professor at the same institution.
Publications
Hirokawa published numerous papers include the following
Honors and awards
Hirokawa received several honors and awards include the following