Profile
東山 大毅 博士(理学)
HIGASHIYAMA, Hiroki Ph.D
Studying of the evolutionary developmental biology of vertebrates with interest in the complex morphology of living organisms.
In his 1794 poem 'The Tyger,' William Blake admired the fearful symmetry of the tiger burning brightly in the forests of the night and reflected on the mechanism behind it. Although it is not easy for me to comprehend the depth of this passage, I think nothing could express more vividly my motivation to study the morphological evolution of animals, at least in a literal sense. My interest has always been in the morphology of complex structures, especially for animals. Whenever I dissect animals, I am always amazed at the sophisticated connections of the vascular, nervous and musculoskeletal systems that form the living organism. The wonder that these animal bodies arise from a single zygote and that they have evolved through generations is what I find most awe-inspiring and wish to understand.
Motivated by the above, I am working on the major evolutionary events of vertebrate morphology, such as the craniofacial-, cardiac-, and hepatobiliary systems, using comparative embryology, developmental genetics, and palaeontological methods.
Most of my research has been focused on explaining character evolution as phenomenological descriptions. I am currently trying to understand the evolution of complex morphology in a more mechanistic way by using several developmental biology techniques.
Academic positions and educations
- 2025 Apr. - Present
・JSPS research fellow RPD
Research Center for Integrative Evolutionary Science (RCIES), SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) - 2024 Apr. - 2024 Mar.
・RCIES special researcher
Research Center for Integrative Evolutionary Science (RCIES), SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) - 2020 Apr. - 2024 Mar.
・Postdoctoral Researcher
Department of Physiological Chemistry and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo - 2017 Apr. - 2020 Mar.
・JSPS Superlative Postdoctoral Fellow (SPD),
Department of Physiological Chemistry and Metabolism, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo - 2014 Apr. - 2017 Mar.
・Project Researcher,
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, The University of Tokyo - 2011 Apr. - 2014 Mar.
・JSPS Doctoral Research Fellow (DC 1)
Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University
education
- 2011 Apr. - 2014 Mar.
・Graduate student (Ph. D)
Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University - 2009 Apr. - 2011 Mar.
・Graduate student (M. Sc)
Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kobe University - 2005 Apr. - 2009-Mar.
・Under graduate student (B. Sc)
Collage of Biological Science, University of Tsukuba
Teaching career
- 2025 Sep. - 2026 Mar. "Animal body and evolution A/B" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
- 2024 Sep. - 2025 Mar. "Animal body and evolution A/B" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
- 2023 Sep. - 2024 Mar. "Animal body and evolution" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
- 2022 Sep. - 2023 Mar. "Animal body and evolution A/B" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
- 2021 Sep. - 2022 Mar. "Animal body and evolution A/B" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
- 2019 Sep. - 2020 Mar. "Vertebrate Anatomy II-A/B" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
- 2017 Sep. - 2018 Mar. "Animal body and evolution A/B" Musashino Art University (Part-time Lecturer)
(intensive course etc.)
- 2023-05-22 "Physiological Chemistry and Metabolism (Developmental biology)" The University of Tokyo
- 2019-05-24 "Physiological Chemistry and Metabolism (Developmental biology)" The University of Tokyo
Overseas research activities
- 2018-06. Paleontological research at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
- 2018-07. Paleontological -and histological research at Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany
Fundings
- Toward the Mammalian Face: Quantitative Developmental Insights into a Major Evolutionary Shift
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo).
2025-04 to 2028-03
GRANT_NUMBER: 25KJ0146 - What developmental mechanisms make the robust correlations of the anatomical structures and embryonic primordia?
KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo).
2020-04 to 2024-03
GRANT_NUMBER: 20K15858 - Developmental Constraints underlying the evolutionary trends of the craniofacial primordia
in Research Project "Constrained and Directional Evolution".
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo).
2020-04 to 2022-03
GRANT_NUMBER: 20H04858 - Evolutionary development of the craniofacial morphology in amniotes
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo).
2017-04 to 2020-03
GRANT_NUMBER: 17J11177 - 脊椎動物における、上顎領域の起源と形態進化
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo). 2011-04 to 2014-03.
GRANT_NUMBER: 11J00778
(co-investigator)
- "Detecting Evolvability Dynamics"
Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (B), KAKENHI, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo).
2025-04 to 2028-03
GRANT_NUMBER:25B302 - Combing Paleontology and Developmental Biology to Understand Skull Evolution in Turtles
German Research Foundation (Bonn). 2019-01-01 to present
GRANT_NUMBER: 415747545 - 頭蓋骨解剖学体系の枠組みから外れた未知の新奇形質「耳舌骨」の多角的解明
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Tokyo). 2018-04 to 2022-03
GRANT_NUMBER: 18KK0207
Awards
- 2022. DEC MBSJ2022 Science Pitch Award
（Best Presentation Award, the 45th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan） - 2022 Young Scientist Initiative Award, SESJ (Society of Evolutionary Studies, Japan)
- 2018. AUG Best Presentation Award, Society of Evolutionary Studies, Japan
- 2017 Reinhard Rieger-Award in zoomorphology
- 2016 奨励賞, 日本獣医解剖学会
- 2015. JUN 優秀ポスター賞, 第15回東京大学生命科学シンポジウム
- 2012. SEP Poster Award (Silver Prize), The 11th RIKEN CDB Retreat
- 2012. SEP Young Investigator's Poster Award, The 11th RIKEN CDB Retreat
