Photo: 日本学士院 / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Shinya Yamanaka is the rare scientist whose work genuinely reset a field, and I find his trajectory deeply compelling. He trained as a physician and surgeon in Osaka and at Kobe University before pivoting to research, and his discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells earned him the 2012 Nobel Prize alongside a near-comical stack of honors: Lasker, Gairdner, Wolf, Balzan, the Order of Culture. What impresses me most is not the trophy case but the patience behind it, the willingness to chase a hard idea until it brought regenerative medicine within reach. That blend of humility and ambition is exactly what real scientific greatness looks like to me.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Shinya Yamanaka
- Name (Japanese)
- 山中伸弥
- Reading
- 不明
- Born
- September 4, 1962 (age 63)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Tiger
- Origin
- Hiraoka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- physician / surgeon / physicist / geneticist / researcher
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Kobe University
Awards & achievements
- 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 2013 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
- 2009 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
- 2012 Order of Culture
- 2011 Wolf Prize in Medicine
- 2010 Balzan Prize
- 2009 Canada Gairdner International Award
- 2011 King Faisal International Prize in Medicine
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://profiles.ucsf.edu/shinya.yamanaka
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%AD%E4%BC%B8%E5%BC%A5
Frequently asked questions
When was Shinya Yamanaka born?
Born September 4, 1962 (age 63).
Where is Shinya Yamanaka from?
Shinya Yamanaka is from Hiraoka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
What does Shinya Yamanaka do?
Shinya Yamanaka works as physician, surgeon, physicist, geneticist, researcher.
Physician — see all → · Surgeon — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-21
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.