CDB Project Leader Hiroki R. Ueda wins JSPS Prize

February 4, 2011 –Hiroki R. Ueda, leader of the CDB Center Director’s Project on Systems Biology, has been awarded the prestigious JSPS Prize by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for his work on explicating the design principles underlying the mammalian circadian clock system.

JSPS Prize winner, Hiroki R. Ueda

Ueda’s work has taken a systems biology and quantitative approach to developing a better understanding of the mechanisms at work in regulating the approximately 24-hour circadian cycle operating in diverse forms of life, including animals, plants and even bacteria. Many of his studies have explored the elaborate transcriptional network that keeps this clock running, and his focus is now turning to the identification of design principles in this system.

The JSPS Prize, established in 2004, was established “to recognize and support young researchers with rich creativity and superlative research ability at an early stage in their careers.” This year’s prize will be awarded at a ceremony at The Japan Academy in early March.