Jun Takahashi, Japan

Jun Takahashi is the Director and Professor at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University, Japan. He earned his medical degree from Kyoto University in 1986 and began his career as a neurosurgeon at Kyoto University Hospital. After completing his Ph.D. at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Salk Institute in California, USA, under Dr. Fred Gage, where he initiated his work on neural stem cells. In 2010, he joined CiRA as a founding member and became a full professor in 2012, focusing on the development of stem cell-based therapies. As a physician-scientist, he has been at the forefront of translating iPS cell research into clinical applications, leading the world’s first clinical trial using iPS cells for Parkinson’s disease from 2018 to 2023. Since then, he has continued to lead CiRA’s activities as its director, driving advancements in regenerative medicine and iPS cell-based therapies.