2002 Honorary Degree

Katsutoshi Yoshizato Doctor Of Science Katsutoshi Yoshizato has distinguished himself as an excellent scientist and a leader in the area of tissue remodeling in post-embryonic development. Dr. Yoshizato is currently a professor of science at Hiroshima University in Japan and also serves as director of tissue regeneration for the Japan Science and Technology Corporation. He has been an important resource for IUPUI in helping to establish the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine. Born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1943, Dr. Yoshizato received most of his formal training in Japan, earning his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees, all in biophysics and biochemistry, from Tokyo University in 1966, 1968 and 1972, respectively. After a short stint as a research fellow of the Japanese Council for the Advancement of Science in 1972, he became a research fellow at Florida State University from 1972 to 1975. Dr. Yoshizato returned to Japan in 1975 to become a lecturer at the School of Medicine at Kitasato University and was promoted to associate professor in the same department in 1981. Six years later, he moved to Tokyo Metropolitan University as an associate professor and then to Hiroshima University as a full professor in 1990. Over the last decade, Dr. Yoshizato also has been the director of the Yoshizato MorphoMatrix Project in exploratory research of advanced technology for the Japan Science and Technology Corporation and was director and professor of laboratory for amphibian biology at Hiroshima University from 1997 to 2000. Dr. Yoshizato is regarded as Japan’s leader in the field of amphibian metamorphosis and in the pioneering works of tissue engineering and regeneration. His noted research activity has resulted in several awards and prizes for biological remodeling in amphibian metamorphosis, regeneration of epidermal tissues and use of collagen for the hybrid-type artificial organ. He was recognized by the Zoological Society of Japan with its Science Award in 1986 and its Society Prize in 1994, by the Biomaterial Society of Japan with its Society Prize of 1994 and by the Minister of Science and Technology Agency with its Distinguished Discovery Prize in 2000. Dr. Yoshizato has authored 117 original papers and 13 reviews in his areas of expertise.