ASTRA 2025

Shigeo Okabe

Invited Speaker, The University of Tokyo

Institute: The University of Tokyo
Dr. Shigeo Okabe is a Professor of the Department of Cellular Neurobiology and the Director of RIKEN Center for Brain Science. He studied the dynamics of the neuronal cytoskeleton and obtained a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo under the supervision of Prof. Nobutaka Hirokawa in 1993. From 1993 to 1996, he stayed in the U.S. and worked as a Visiting Associate with Dr. Ron McKay at NINDS/NIH. In 1996, Dr. Okabe returned to Japan and began his work on the cell biology of neuronal synapses as a principal investigator at the National Institute of Bioscience and Human-Technology in Tsukuba. In 1999, he was appointed Professor of the Department of Cell Biology at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. As a full professor, Dr. Okabe returned to the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo in 2007. From 2025, he also serves as Director of the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS).

Dr. Okabe’s research interests include the development and reorganization of neural networks in the developing brain, the molecular mechanisms of synapse assembly and modification, and synaptic dysfunction in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. He received Tsukahara Nakaakira Award (2004), Seto Award (2010), Naito Memorial Award (2020), The Takeda Prize for Medical Science (2022), Medal with Purple Ribbon (2022), Fujiwara Award (2023) and Japan Academy Prize (2025) for his contribution to neuroscience.