Yasushi Okada graduated from the University of Tokyo, Department of Medicine in 1993. He began research into kinesin-type molecular motors at the same university under the supervision of Dr Nobutaka Hirokawa as a JSPS Research Fellow (DC1, 1994-97). In 1995, he was subsequently appointed as assistant professor at the University of Tokyo. His research interests center on the mechanism and functions of kinesin-type molecular motors, where he has been able to demonstrate and measure the movement of a single kinesin molecule by developing a special microscope. Dr. Okada recently applied this microscope to examine the mechanisms of left-right determination in vertebrates, where he was able to find "nodal flow".