Professor Kiyoko F. Aoki-Kinoshita of the Faculty of Science and Engineering has received the "Japan Society for Bioinformatics Award".

Professor Kiyoko F. Aoki-Kinoshita of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at our university has been awarded the "Japan Society for Bioinformatics Award (2026)." The Japan Society for Bioinformatics Award is given to a maximum of one person each fiscal year to recognize researchers who have made extremely important academic contributions to the field of bioinformatics.

Professor Kinoshita's research field, glycans, is called the "third chain of life" after DNA and proteins, and is deeply involved in diverse life phenomena such as intercellular communication, immunity, and disease. However, its structure is complex and branched, making it difficult to digitize, and it is characterized by the fact that it is difficult to handle it integrally as data in the field of bioinformatics.
The award-winning topic is "Elucidating True Life Science through the Integration of Glycans." Professor Kinoshita has received this award as a result of his long-term efforts to build a foundation and expand internationally, aiming to integrate life science and bioinformatics.

Furthermore, on August 28th (Friday), the award ceremony and commemorative lecture were held at the Odakyu Hotel Century Sagami-Ono in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, where Professor Kinoshita took the stage and spoke about the title of his award-winning research.

[Professor Kinoshita's comment]
"I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award. When I first encountered glycoscience, this field lacked databases and standards. I am extremely pleased that the Bioinformatics Society has recognized the work I have diligently done to build the foundation in this field. This award is by no means the result of my efforts alone, but rather the result of collaboration with my family who have supported me, the students and staff of my laboratory, my collaborators both domestically and internationally, and the members of the Japanese Society for Bioinformatics who have supported me for many years. I express my heartfelt gratitude."
Now that data, standards, and an international community are in place, I believe we have reached a stage where information on glycans can be used to improve our understanding of life and contribute to medicine. We will continue to move forward toward "unraveling the true mysteries of life science," as reflected in the award-winning title.

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Professor

Kinoshita  Flora Kiyoko

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Specialized Field

Computer Systems and Networks, Bioinformatics, Applied Genomics, Biomolecular Science

Research theme

Development of glycoinformatics resources for elucidating the functions of glycans