Professor Noboru Mizushima is the winner of the 2026 FAOBMB Award for Research Excellence
Professor Noboru Mizushima
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Medicine,
University of Tokyo, Japan
Noboru Mizushima graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 1991 and received his Ph.D. in 1996. In 1997, he joined the laboratory of Yoshinori Ohsumi, recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize, at the National Institute for Basic Biology in Japan. After establishing his own laboratory at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science in 2004, he was appointed Professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 2006 and moved to the University of Tokyo in 2012.
For nearly three decades, Noboru Mizushima has studied intracellular degradation systems, with a particular focus on autophagy. His research group has identified key components of the autophagy machinery, developed widely used methods for monitoring autophagy, and elucidated the physiological and pathological roles of autophagy and other degradation pathways in mammals. He conducts multidisciplinary research employing biochemistry, fluorescence and electron microscopy, as well as mouse and zebrafish genetics. He was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Government of Japan in 2021. He is a former President of the Japanese Biochemical Society and currently serves as President of the Japan Society for Cell Biology.