Shinya Yamanaka (Mainichi/Yusuke Komatsu)

       OSAKA -- Kyoto University announced Dec. 8 that professor Shinya Yamanaka will step down as head of its Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at the end of March 2022 due to the conclusion of his tenure. The Nobel laureate will stay with the institute to work on his research.

       "Over the past several years, my desire to focus on my own research in my final period as a researcher grew stronger by the day," Yamanaka, 59, said in a statement.

       Professor Jun Takahashi, 60, has been chosen to replace him as the institute's head. Takahashi will serve for two years from April 1, 2022.

       The personnel change was decided at a Dec. 2 faculty meeting. Yamanaka has been head of the institute since its establishment more than 10 years ago. "I will, as a basic researcher, give my all to contribute to the development of iPS cells, medicine and biology," Yamanaka said in the statement.

       Takahashi got his PhD from Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine. Following clinical practice at Kyoto University Hospital and elsewhere, he became a professor at CiRA in 2012. In 2018, he conducted the world's first clinical trial to transplant cells created from human iPS cells into the brain of a Parkinson's disease patient.

       "My appointment to take over as director of the institute (CiRA) has had a deep effect on me," Takahashi commented. "I pay my sincere respects to director Yamanaka for the many years of work he has given to establishing the institute and getting it off the ground. I will promote research and medical applications so we can contribute to medicine and life science in the future."

       (Japanese original by Koki Matsumoto, Osaka Science & Environment News Department)

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