It is with great sadness that we learned about the passing of Professor Tsuneko Okazaki.
Tsuneko Okazaki served as a professor at Nagoya University’s Graduate School of Science where she dedicated herself to training the next generation of researchers.
Professor Okazaki, along with her husband and collaborator, the late Professor Reiji Okazaki, undertook DNA replication research and made the important discovery that the joining of short DNA strands – which later came to be known as “Okazaki fragments” – enables the replication of double-stranded DNA. After Professor Reiji Okazaki passed away, she led her own research team to elucidate the mechanism of discontinuous replication and became widely known as a leading female scientist. She has received numerous honors, including the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2000, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in 2008, and the Order of Culture in 2021.
The university community is deeply grateful for Professor Okazaki’s many contributions to Nagoya University. May she rest in peace.
President Naoshi Sugiyama
Additional information
In 2015, Nagoya University established the Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award, presented each year to an early career scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of biology through innovative and original approaches or transformative technologies.
An interview with Professor Okazaki about her life’s work can be read here.