was a Japanese

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, the ...

known for identifying the molecular structure of

Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 or human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I), also called the adult T-cell lymphoma virus type 1, is a retrovirus of the human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) family. Most people with HTLV-1 infection do not appear t ...

responsible for

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL or ATLL) is a rare cancer of the immune system's T-cells caused by human T cell leukemia/lymphotropic virus type 1 ( HTLV-1). All ATL cells contain integrated HTLV-1 provirus further supporting that causal role ...

Life

Yoshida was born in

Toyama, Japan is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the w ...

and received his Ph.D. in 1967 from

the University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

."ヒトのがんウイルスに挑む" Biography of Mitsuaki Yoshida
/ref> After his postdoctoral fellowship at

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology The Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) is a research institute in Cambridge, England, involved in the revolution in molecular biology which occurred in the 1950–60s. Since then it has remained a major medical r ...

, he worked to uncover the relationship between

oncovirus An oncovirus or oncogenic virus is a virus that can cause cancer. This term originated from studies of acutely transforming retroviruses in the 1950–60s, when the term ''oncornaviruses'' was used to denote their RNA virus origin. With the let ...

and

carcinogenesis Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cell (biology), cells are malignant transformation, transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, G ...

at the Cancer Institute,

Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research The (JFCR) is a non-profit cancer research organization based in Ariake, Tokyo. The JFCR was founded in 1908 as the first Japanese organization specializing in cancer by Katsusaburō Yamagiwa and his supporters. The Cancer Institute and its atta ...

from 1975 to 1989. He was appointed as Professor at the Institute of Medical Science,

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

in 1989, where he served as Dean from 1996 to 1998. After retiring from the University of Tokyo and becoming Professor Emeritus, he was Director at the Tsukuba Research Institute of BANYU Pharmaceutical Co. ( Merck & Co. today) in

Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of January 1, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 256,526 in 121,001 households and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 wa ...

and Director at the Cancer Chemotherapy Center,

Awards

*1982: Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund Prize *1986:

Asahi Prize The , established in 1929, is an award presented by the Japanese newspaper ''Asahi Shimbun'' and Asahi Shimbun Foundation to honor individuals and groups that have made outstanding accomplishments in the fields of arts and academics and have greatl ...

*1999: Tomizo Yoshida Award第8回平成11年, 8th recipient
/ref> *2000: Medal with Purple Ribbon (Japanese Government)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Mitsuaki 1939 births Living people Cancer researchers Japanese virologists Japanese molecular biologists Academic staff of the University of Tokyo University of Tokyo alumni People from Toyama Prefecture Scientists from Toyama Prefecture