Shinya Yamanaka

New Capabilities

Developed induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology

Johns Hopkins engineers grew miniature brains from patients' skin cells and found each disorder leaves its own pattern of electrical firing. Machine learning sorted those patterns with 83% accuracy, rising to 92% after a gentle electrical pulse, in a study of just 12 patients.

Updated Oct 31

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Director Emeritus, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University; Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes

In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka showed that four genes could rewind an adult cell all the way back to an embryonic-like state. Twenty years later, a stripped-down version of that technique is being injected into human eyes for the first time.

Updated May 30

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes

For more than 50 years, Parkinson's disease treatment has meant managing symptoms with medication—not addressing the root cause: the death of dopamine-producing brain cells. Now, clinical trials are testing whether stem cell therapies can actually replace those lost neurons.

Updated May 27

New Capabilities

As of May 2026: Pioneered induced pluripotent stem cell technology in 2006

Researchers just demonstrated they can regenerate heart muscle using reprogrammed stem cells—and for the first time, proved these patches work in a human patient. In January 2025, a 46-year-old woman with advanced heart failure received 10 patches containing 400 million stem cell-derived heart muscle cells. Three months later, when she received a transplant, examination of her original heart revealed the patches had survived, formed blood vessels, and integrated with her heart tissue.

Updated May 21