Nobutaka Hirokawa

(born March 25, 1946) is a Japanese neuroscientist and cell biologist famous for research on the kinesin superfamily of motor proteins. He has been President and Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Human Frontier Science Program since 2012.

Contribution Hirokawa's work is mostly focused on the molecular mechanisms involved in transporting materials within nerve cells, in particular in his discovery of many of the functions of the Kinesin superfamily of molecular motors. On returning to Japan, he was appointed Professor and Chairman of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, where he served as the Dean from 2003 to 2007. He is now holds a Distinguished Project Professor at the same institution. Japan Academy Prize, Japan Academy (1999) Foreign member, European Molecular Biology Organization (2003)