Naoki Irie

Naoki Irie received his doctorate from Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in 2008. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Congenital Anomaly Research Center at Kyoto University before moving to his current position in 2009 as a Research Scientist in the Laboratory for Evolutionary Morphology at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB).

Irie has long been interested in understanding how developmental processes have evolved over time. In particular, his interest lies in how developmental processes can lead to a bias in evolutionary trajectory. His recent studies have revealed that intermediate stages of development, known as the ‘pharyngula’ stage, appear to show the highest conservation in gene expression profiles, lending support for the ‘hourglass’ model of conservation during embryonic development.

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