Rate My Professor Michisuke Yuzaki

Michisuke Yuzaki is Project Professor and Special Advisor to the Director at the Keio University Human Biology-Microbiome-Quantum Computation Research Center (WPI-Bio2Q). He previously served as Professor in the Department of Physiology at Keio University School of Medicine from 2003 to 2025 and as Dean of the Keio University Graduate School of Medicine from 2021 to 2023. Yuzaki earned his M.D. from Jichi Medical School in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the same institution in 1993. His earlier career included positions as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the United States, following a postdoctoral fellowship at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology.

Yuzaki’s research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation, maintenance, and plasticity in the central nervous system, with particular emphasis on the cerebellum and hippocampus. He identified key roles of C1q-family molecules, including Cbln1, in synaptic adhesion and developed the artificial synaptic connector CPTX, which has demonstrated functional improvements in animal models of cerebellar ataxia, Alzheimer’s disease, and spinal cord injury. His work has extended to synaptic mechanisms in peripheral and enteric nervous systems. Yuzaki has received the 2024 Uehara Prize, the 2023 Medal with Purple Ribbon, the 2022 Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, and other honors. He has held leadership roles in the Physiological Society of Japan, Japan Neuroscience Society, and Science Council of Japan, and serves on editorial boards of journals including Cerebellum and European Journal of Neuroscience. Representative publications include studies on CPTX in Science (2020) and related work in Neuron and Cell Reports.