Reiko Kuroda (黒田 玲子, Kuroda Reiko, born October 7, 1947)[1] is a Japanese chemist who is a professor at the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo.[2]
Reiko Kuroda | |
|---|---|
| 黒田 玲子 | |
| Born | October 7 1947 Akita, Japan |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
| Awards | Sarahushi Prize |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | King's College London Institute of Cancer Research University of Tokyo |
Early life and education
editKuroda was born in Akita but grew up in Miyagi, on the island of Honshu, Japan.[3] She obtained her MSc (1972) and PhD (1975) in Chemistry from the University of Tokyo.[4] Her doctorate focused on determining the stereochemistry of metal complexes.[3]
Career
editAfter her PhD, Kuroda worked at King's College London and the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK before returning to Japan in 1986.[4] In 1992 she became the first woman to be made full professor of natural sciences at the University of Tokyo.[4]
Kuroda's field of research is primarily chirality within both inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry.[5] Part of her research has involved studying chirality in snail shells. Her work identified that the direction of the shell spiral is determined at very early stages of snail development.[6] Her team later used CRISPR genetic editing to show that this process is dependent on a single gene, Lsdia1.[7]
Kuroda has established the Science Interpreter Training Program at the University of Tokyo and was appointed to serve as a governor for the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre in 2006. She has also served as Vice-President for External Relations in the International Science Council.
Honours and awards
editin 1993, Kuroda received the Saruhashi Prize for esteemed female scientists.[8]
On June 10, 2009, Kuroda was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in its class for chemistry.[5]
In 2013, Kuroda was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. She has been nominated for awards by the Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP) and by AcademiaNet.
References
edit- ^ International Council for Science (ICSU) Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine, candidate presentations, p. 22
- ^ "Trend-Setting Women Scientists of Biomedical Research in Japan" (PDF). International Journal of Medical Sciences. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
- ^ a b Hargittai, Magdolna (2015-03-04). Women Scientists: Reflections, Challenges, and Breaking Boundaries. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-935999-8.
- ^ a b c Crow, James Mitchell. "The asymmetry problem". Chemistry World. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ a b Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: Two prominent researchers elected to the Academy's class for chemistry, press announcement, June 30, 2009
- ^ Yong, Ed (2016-02-25). "The Origin of Left and Right". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ Klein, JoAnna (2019-05-24). "It's a Lefty! Welcome to the World's First Crispr Snail Baby (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ "U.N. science board taps chemist Kuroda". The Japan Times. 2013-10-21. Retrieved 2021-02-19.