On 3rd November 2024, the Government of Japan announced that Professor Takao Hensch, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon.

Professor Hensch has served at Harvard University since 2006 and was also lab head and Critical Period Mechanisms Research Group Director at RIKEN Brain Science Institute from 1996 to 2010, making significant contributions to research on critical periods in brain development. Additionally, Professor Hensch serves on the Board of Trustees at the Corundum Convergence Institute, created by Corundum Neuroscience and Corundum Systems Biology, further supporting initiatives at the intersection of neuroscience, systems biology, and artificial intelligence.

As a member of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, Professor Hensch has contributed to promoting the exchanges of international science students and interns in collaboration with various Japanese universities and research institutions. He has also continued to lead an active collaboration between the University of Tokyo and Boston Children's Hospital, where he is also Professor of Neurology (Harvard Medical School).