Distinguished Project Professor, Departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy, and Molecular Structure and Dynamics, University of Tokyo Dr. Hirokawa uses electron microscopy, molecular cell biology and genetics, structural biology, and biophysics to study the structure and functions of major microtubule-associated proteins. He uncovered the many diverse functions of the kinesin superfamily proteins, and was the first researcher to provide a clear answer to the long-standing question of how motor proteins recognize and bind to their own cargoes. The newly discovered KIF17 was shown to transport major receptors for a key excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, namely glutamate, and was revealed to fundamentally control learning and memory through a transcriptional factor CREB. Dr. Hirokawa received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tokyo. After 5 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, and an Associate Professor at Washington University, he became a Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Tokyo. He is a Japan Academy member.