Japan

Dr. So Iwata is a Professor at the Graduate School of Medicine Kyoto University and the Group Director of the SACLA Science Research Group, RIKEN SPring-8 Center. He has investigated how specialized membrane channels remove antimicrobial drugs from inside bacterial cells.

I am an organic chemist with broad interests in biochemistry and protein evolution.

Her current research focuses on the synthesis of semiconducting polymers for organic electronics and has published >100 papers in this area of research.

Assistant Professor Izumi Fukunaga grew up in Japan and Malaysia and went to London to study neuroscience. Her research focuses on how sensory circuits in the brain function.

Professor Gail Tripp is a neurobiologist who established the OIST Children’s Research Center to undertake research on the nature, etiology and management of ADHD with English and Japanese speaking children and families.

Assistant Professsor Lauren Sallan is a fish paleobiologist who uses big data — the fossil record — to study how some species win and others lose. Her multiple TED Talks on the evolution of fishes, mass extinction and paleontology have received over 3 million views.

Michihiro Okuyama is the principal data scientist at Konica Minolta, Tokyo.

Professor Shinya Maenosono leads his research group at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). His research in JAIST has focused on two main areas of interest in the field of materials chemistry and nanotechnology. The first area involved wet chemical synthesis of semiconductor nanoparticles with controlled size, shape and composition for energy conversion device applications. The second area has focused on the synthesis and bioapplication development of monometallic and alloyed multimetallic nanoparticles.

Prof. Shigekawa's research interest includes fabrication of heterointerfaces and advanced hybrid semiconductor devices such as multijunction solar cells and heterojunction bipolar transistors using surface activated bonding and their characterization.

Ken-ichi Uchida is a group leader in the Spin Caloritronics Group, Research Center for Magnetic and Spintronic Materials under the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan

Satoshi Ishii is a principal researcher at International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Japan. He also holds an adjunct associate professorship at University of Tsukuba.

Hiroshi Kageyama is a professor in the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), Kyoto University, Japan.

Mayuko Nakagawa is a biochemist at Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.

Hitoshi Gomi is an Earth scientist at Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan.

Tomohiro Mochizuki is a specially-appointed assistant professor at Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) - Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Tony Z. Jia is a researcher at Japan’s Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), based at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His research focuses on astrobiology, prebiotic chemistry, and origins of life.

Takeshi Horinouchi is a professor at the Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Japan.

Assoc Prof Yuki Nagao is a materials scientist at the School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Dr Ryota Tamate is a materials scientist at the Center for Green Research on Energy and Environmental Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan.

Yukikazu Takeoka is a materials engineer at the Department of Molecular Design & Engineering at Nagoya University, Japan.

Daisuke Hirano is an assistant professor at the Ocean and Sea Ice Dynamics Group, the Institute of Low Temperature Science of Hokkaido University, Japan.

Jorge García Molinos is an aquatic ecologist broadly interested in global change ecology and macroecology.

I am a sociologist studying domestic violence and sexual violence situations and measures in Japan, and am the director of two NGOs, All Japan Women’s Shelter Network and Rape Crisis Center in Hiroshima. As an NGO activist, we, All Japan Women’s Shelter Network, submitted “The Request for the Prevention of DV and Child Abuse under the Condition of Novel Coronavirus Countermeasures” to the Japanese government on March 30. This letter of request drew more attention than we expected, and many newspapers and TV quickly covered the issue. A lot of people have talked about this online. The prime minister and minister of gender equality have since addressed the issue in statements, and the Cabinet has approved emergency funding for expanded consultation services.

As a young research practitioner, I’ve been working with more than 1,000 female college students who participate in study abroad programs. As a women’s school graduate, I believe in the power of female education in women’s school while there are sceptical views of its existence.

My research on how medieval Japanese royal women strategized to overcome disparity is relevant in a time when COVID-19 has exposed ongoing problems tied to the vulnerability of (Japanese) women and gender stereotypes (e.g. recent remarks by Tokyo Olympics chief Mori).

I am engaged in the development of a new device for embryo evaluation which measures embryo oxygen consumption and a new medication for infertility. Recently, I focused on causative genes of disorders of sex development and searched pathogenic variants using a whole-genome reference panel constructed by Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization.

I am a leading expert in the reconstruction of an artificial cell membrane as a novel system for screening side effects of drugs on the heart. This system can assess the potential risks of drugs that unintentionally interfere with the function of membrane proteins in the heart muscle.

Masako Tanaka is a practitioner, activist and academic focusing on gender and migration issues in Japan. She is a professor at the Department of Global Studies at Sophia University, Japan.

Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano is a professor at the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan. She is specialized in Japanese and East Asian cinemas with focus on digital media, disaster film, eco-cinema, and post-colonial cinema in cases of Japan, Taiwan, and Korea.

Madoka Ono is an associate professor at the Research Institute for Electronic Science/Green Nanotechnology Research Center at Hokkaido University and is the principal researcher at AGC Inc. Materials Integration Laboratories.