Biographical Sketch of Prof. Furukawa Takahisa Furukawa, MD & PhD Distinguished Professor Laboratories for Molecular and Developmental Biology Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University

Dr. Furukawa is a distinguished professor and a vice director of Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University. He received his M.D. from Osaka University School of Medicine in 1988 and his Ph.D. from Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in 1992 (Thesis advisor, Prof. Tasuku Honjo who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2018). He did his postdoc training in Dr. Connie Cepko’s lab at Harvard Medical School from 1995. Dr. Furukawa became an assistant professor at UTSW Medical Center at Dallas to have his own lab in 1999. Then Dr. Furukawa became a department head of Osaka Bioscience Institute in Japan until 2012. He was appointed to be a professor at Osaka University from 2012. His research focuses on vertebrate central nervous system development, including cell fate determination and synapse formation in the retina, functional mechanisms of vision, and cilia development.

Awards

2005	Pfizer Ophthalmics Award Japan
2006	Baelz Prize
2006	Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Prize
2012	Osaka Science Prize
2015	Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
2017	Distinguished Professor of Osaka University