Join notable scientists and industry leaders at a cocktail reception and short ceremony to honor Jun Takahashi, MD, PhD the recipient of the 2026 Ogawa-Yamanaka Stem Cell Prize. Takahashi was selected for pioneering the translation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell biology into regenerative therapies for Parkinson’s disease, culminating in the world’s first clinical approval for iPS cell-derived cell transplantation.
Gladstone President Deepak Srivastava, MD, and Gladstone Senior Investigator and Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, will present Takahashi with the prize for his groundbreaking contributions in translational regenerative medicine.
About Jun Takahashi
Jun Takahashi, MD, PhD, is former director and professor at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Japan. He received his medical degree from Kyoto University and began his career in neurosurgery at Kyoto University Hospital. He then earned his doctorate from the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine and conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Fred Gage at the Salk Institute, where he began his work on neural stem cells.
Takahashi joined CiRA as a founding member in 2010 and was appointed professor in 2012. He then served as director of CiRA from 2022 to 2026. His research has focused on developing stem cell-based therapies for neurological disorders, particularly Parkinson’s disease.
From 2018 to 2023, Takahashi’s team conducted the world’s first clinical trial of an iPS cell-derived therapy for Parkinson’s disease, work that ultimately contributed to the first regulatory approval of an iPS cell-derived therapeutic product.
His honors include the Cell Replacement Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease Award from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine Award.
