Midori Ohta

Leader, Centrosome Dynamics and Evolution Group

Since Midori studied starfish oocytes as an undergraduate at Ochanomizu University, her passion has been cell organelles, centrosomes, that organize the microtubule network during cell division and development. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo and conducted her first postdoctoral work at the National Institute of Genetics in Mishima. She then moved to the United States to pursue her second postdoctoral studies. Since August 2022, she has been conducting her research at OIST, initially as a Science and Technology Associate. In August 2024, she was awarded the Buribushi Fellowship and started leading her research group at OIST as the head of the Centrosome Dynamics and Evolution Group. During her career, she has worked on various model systems, including starfish, yeast, nematodes, and human cell culture, and has been working on fundamental mechanisms related to centrosomes whose dysfunction leads to cancer and developmental diseases.