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Three distinguished female researchers received the 2025 Murasaki Sendai Hagi Award from Tohoku University President Teiji Tominaga at a ceremony on March 13. The award, which recognizes outstanding female researchers, aims to encourage and promote diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

This year's recipients were Associate Professor Maho Naito (Graduate School of Arts and Letters), Assistant Professor Kyoko Chiba (Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences) and Associate Professor Emiko Sato (Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences).

Naito was recognized for her research on Tutuba, an endangered language spoken on the island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean.

"I noticed the research disparity between majority and minority languages during my undergraduate studies, which inspired me to look further into endangered languages," she said, noting that there are only about 500 people in the world who speak Tutuba, and that the language is undocumented. As part of her research, Naito spent time living among local residents on Tutuba Island, learning the language, culture and customs. She has since published a descriptive grammar work of Tutuba, as well as a Tutuba-Bislama-English dictionary.

Chiba received her award for her study of the relationship between the motor protein kinesin and human diseases.

"Through the analysis of full-length kinesin proteins using single-molecule assays, I discovered that some disease-associated kinesin mutants are hyperactivated along microtubules, which results from the disruption of kinesin's 'braking' mechanism," she said. Chiba hopes her research will improve the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases and contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Sato's research investigates the intergenerational effects of low birth weight (LBW) and proactive interventions. "My study highlights the implications of LBW on adulthood, pregnancy and subsequent generations, and the mechanisms behind these effects," she said. "In addition, the research also demonstrates that maternal tadalafil treatment has a potential to address these issues by promoting fetal growth."

The ceremony concluded with a casual roundtable talk with President Tominaga, Director of the DEI Centre Mami Tanaka and Vice President for Public Relations and Diversity Noriko Osumi. The president congratulated the award recipients for their achievements and encouraged them to continue their research and to be role models for the next generation of young women.

Established in 2017, the Murasaki Sendai Hagi Award is given out every year in March in conjunction with International Women's Day. One recipient is usually chosen from each of the following fields: humanities and social sciences; science and engineering; agriculture and life sciences; and dentistry, pharmacy and health.