Aarhus University Seal

DANDRITE Group Leader Taro Kitazawa receives the PRESTO Career Grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency

Through pioneering research focused on brain stress resilience at both the population and cellular levels, alongside the development of cutting-edge genomics technologies, Taro Kitazawa’s work has a broad impact on both fundamental and advanced neuroscience. He has now been recognized with a prestigious grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

“I am very proud to receive this prestigious career grant for Japanese junior PIs. This grant will accelerate our research projects to investigate neuroplasticity from the perspective of gene regulation. Additionally, awardees have the opportunity to gather annually for scientific exchange, providing a valuable chance to network with emerging PIs in related fields,” Taro explains.

In 2022, Taro Kitazawa was appointed Group Leader at DANDRITE, the Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience, the Danish node of the Nordic EMBL Partnership.

Along with his wife Yumiko and daughter, he moved from Basel, Switzerland to settle in Aarhus, where he will focus on uncovering the molecular basis of neuroplasticity over the next seven years. His research will particularly explore epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms underlying memory engram plasticity, using mice as a model organism.

This project is expected to lead to significant advancements in science and technology.

With the PRESTO Grant, his status and reputation as a leading researcher in Japan are further elevated.

At my lab in Denmark, we are developing new genomics technologies to decipher how individual brain cells develop their molecular state over time at single-cell resolution. I believe that this is at the forefront of current biotechnology, and I am excited to contribute to Japanese science and technology from this perspective.”