Professor Shinya Yamanaka is most recognized for his discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), which are differentiated cells that have been reprogrammed to the pluripotent state. He is Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), which was founded in 2008 in response to his discovery at Kyoto University, and Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes.

Since his breakthrough finding, he has been the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the 100th Imperial Prize and Japan Academy Prize, and the Wolf Prize in Medicine. The significance of iPSC was culminated with Dr. Yamanaka being awarded the Nobel Prize in 2012.

Professor Yamanaka also serves as a foreign associate of the NAS, an international member of the NAM, fellow of the AACR, and member of EMBO, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Japan Academy.