This is a summary of the curriculum vitae (CV) of Prof. Ikue Mori, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow of the Graduate School of Science in Nagoya University, and Professor Emeritus of Nagoya University, Japan. In 2017, she established the Neuroscience Institute in the Graduate School of Science in Nagoya University, and has been acting as its first Director until very recently. She will give a presentation at Fujita Health University.
Professor Mori is famous in the field of neuroregulation of animal behavior. She is especially known for studies on the behavioral responses of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans; a “mini-worm” of about 1 mm), which despite its primitive state can learn how different temperatures are associated with food. C. elegans has only 302 neurons (!), making it a superior model for elucidating the neural networks involved in behavioral choices. In 2013, she became the first woman to receive the Tokizane Award, a prestigious neuroscience award in Japan. She has many papers in top journals, including in Nature, Science, and Cell.
She graduated from Ochanomizu University, Japan, in 1980 with a B.S. in Biology. While she was a M.S. student majoring in population genetics using Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) in Ochanomizu University, she studied theoretical biology and evolution at the University of Sussex, UK, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Charlesworth as a visiting student for one year, supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
From April to August in 1983, Dr. Ikue Mori was supervised by Dr. Kunitada Shimotohno to learn Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Research Center, Japan. In September 1983, she joined the Biology and Biomedical Science Program in Washington University, where she studied Genetics using C. elegans under the supervision of Dr. Robert Waterston.
After receiving her Ph.D., she was appointed as Assistant Professor at Kyushu University, Japan, where she started to work on thermotaxis in C. elegans, aiming to clarify molecular, neural, and circuit mechanisms underlying learning, memory and decision-making.
Since 1998, Dr. Ikue Mori established her lab in Nagoya University, Japan, where she was first appointed as Associate Professor, and became Full Professor in 2004. She established the Neuroscience Institute in the Graduate School of Science in Nagoya University in 2017, and has been acting as the first Director of this institute until recently.
Dr. Ikue Mori contributed to understand how a behavior is generated and executed using C. elegans as a model by the application of system-level and interdisciplinary approaches. Owing to her scientific achievements, she was honored by receiving the Saruhashi Award in 2006, the Inoue Prize for Science in 2006, the Tokizane Award in 2013, the Kihara Prize in 2013, the Chunichi Cultural Award in 2016, the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 2017, and the Toray Science and Technology Prize in 2023.
Dr. Ikue Mori is also acting as a Program Officer of the Interstellar Initiative, which is an international mentorship program for early career investigators organized by Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
1980 B.S., Biology, Ochanomizu University, Japan
1982-1983 Visiting graduate student at the University of Sussex, UK
Advisor: Professor Brian Charlesworth
1983 M.S., Ochanomizu University, Japan
Topic: Population Genetics (fruit flies), Advisor: Professor Sadao Ishiwa
1983 Visiting graduate student, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Japan
Advisor: Professor Kunitada Shimotohno
1988 Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Topic: Genetics (nematodes), Advisor: Professor Robert H. Waterston
POSITIONS
1989-1998 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka,
Japan
1998-2004 Associate Professor, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan
2004-2023 Professor, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Japan
2014-2023 Unit Leader, Nagoya University Brain Neural Circuit Research Unit
2017-2023 Director, Neuroscience Institute, Graduate School of Science,
Nagoya University
2023- Senior Research Fellow, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University
2023- Professor Emeritus, Nagoya University
AWARDS
2006 Saruhashi Award (to a Japanese woman researcher in the natural sciences)
2006 Inoue Prize for Science (outstanding achievements in basic science)
2013 Tokizane Award (neuroscience)
2013 The Kihara Prize (biology)
2016 Chunichi Cultural Award (cultural contribution in science, humanities, or arts)
2017 Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from Emperor (contribution to society)
2022 Toray Science and Technology Prize
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Professor Mori has >90 publications of which a considerable number are in top journals, including the “big three” (Nature, Science, Cell). Some of those publications are listed here.
