Profile

　　　　　　　　　　　spider plant/"butterfly blowing in the wind"(風蝶草） (T. Sakai)

Degrees:
B.Sc. Department of Science, International Christian University 1992
Ph.D. Department of Botany, Graduate School of Biological Science, University of Tokyo 1997

Employment Records:
1997-1998; Research School of Biological Science, Australia National University, Postdoctoral Fellow
1998-2000; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Research Fellowship for Young Scientists
2000-2010; RIKEN Plant Science Center, Team Leader
2010-current; Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Associate Professor
2007-current; Japan Science and Technology Agency, PRESTO Research Fellow

Award:
JSPP Young Investigator Award 2009

Scientific Leadership:
Tatsuya Sakai is a team leader in Genetic Regulatory Systems Research Team of PSC and has been the PRESTO researcher at Japan Science and Technology Agency from 2007.
Dr. Sakai received a Ph.D. degree in biological science from the university of Tokyo, Japan, in 1997. After completing his postdoctoral training in plant molecular genetics at Australian National University and Kyoto university, Dr. Sakai joined the Plant Science Center as Team Leader for Genetic Regulatory Systems Research Team, from 2000 to 2010. Then, he took up a new position at Niigata University.
Dr. Sakai discovered the phot2 blue light photoreceptor. His research focuses mainly on the light signaling, especially phototropism. He has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in the scientific journals including Science, Plant Cell, and PNAS, and an average citation (=citations/papers) of those articles is 40. He has a talk almost every year in international and/or domestic meetings on the light signaling as invited speaker. Dr. Sakai is a member of National BioResource Project (L. japonicas and G. max) in Japan, and contributes to the research field using leguminous plants in Japan.

Academic Activities:
The Japan Society for Plant Physiology
The Molecular Biology Society of Japan
American Society of Plant Biologists

Education:
2006 Lecture at Tokyo Metropolitan University
2007 Lecture at Okayama University

学歴：
1992年国際基督教大学教養学部卒業
1992年東京大学大学院理学系研究科修士課程入学
1997年東京大学大学院理学系研究科博士課程修了及び学位取得（理学博士）

職歴：
1997年～1998年 Australia National University, Research School of Biological Science, Postdoctoral Fellow
1998年～2000年京都大学大学院理学研究科所属日本学術振興会特別研究員
2000年～2010年　独立行政法人理化学研究所植物科学研究センター・制御機能研究チーム・チームリーダー
2007年～2011年　科学技術振興機構さきがけ研究者（兼任）
2010年～2014　新潟大学大学院自然科学研究科・准教授
2014年～現在　新潟大学自然科学系・教授

受賞歴：
2006年　国際植物光生物学会議ベストポスター賞、Phytochromes and cryptochromes regulate hypocotyl-bending through the action of PGP19 in Arabidopsis、パリ。
2009年　日本植物生理学会奨励賞、光に応答した植物の成長パターン制御機構の分子遺伝学的解析。