News
Memorial writing for Professor Osamu Shimomura, University Professor of Nagoya University
Professor Osamu Shimomura (1928-2018)
With great sadness we pass along the news that Professor Osamu Shimomura has passed away on Friday, October 19, 2018, and express our deepest condolences for his loss.
Professor Shimomura has supported us in many ways and has been a great mentor to all of us as a senior of the Department of Chemistry at Nagoya University. In addition, his involvement as a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), and has indeed contributed greatly to the establishment and growth of our institute.
In 2013, which was when ITbM had just started, ITbM became in charge of organizing the academic lecture of Nagoya University's Homecoming Day, and Professor Shimomura kindly agreed to present a lecture on this occasion. It seems like yesterday that I was seeing Professor Shimomura enjoying his time with the participants in the panel discussion that was held at the same time.
Professor Shimomura's discovery of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) has brought about great innovations and advances in biological and medical research. His achievements have been highly recognized, including the winning of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For us, GFP is most certainly a transformative bio-molecule that has changed the world in many ways. We would like to follow his footsteps in developing molecules that can transform the world.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest appreciation for Professor Shimomura's kindness and offer my deepest sympathy.
October 22, 2018
Kenichiro Itami
Director, Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University
2018-10-22