About

Masahiko Hiraki is a leading figure in structural biology instrumentation, whose work has dramatically accelerated the pace of macromolecular crystallography (MX) at synchrotron facilities. His primary research focus is the development of high-throughput automation systems that remove the bottlenecks in protein structure determination. Hiraki’s most significant contribution is the creation of the PXS (Protein Crystallization System), an automated large-scale platform for protein crystallization that was published in 2006 and has garnered 66 citations. He further revolutionized data collection by designing and implementing the PAM (PF Automated Mounting) sample-exchange robots, which enable rapid, remote, and unattended crystal mounting at the Photon Factory beamlines. His work on the high-throughput beamline AR-NW12A and the development of secure, UNIX-based control systems have been instrumental in enabling fully automated, remote-access experiments. With a career spanning from early work on snake-like robots to pioneering synchrotron automation, Hiraki’s engineering solutions have made high-throughput structural biology a practical reality, allowing researchers to collect vast amounts of diffraction data efficiently and reliably.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

5
H-Index
11
Papers
165
Total Citations
15
Avg Citations/Paper
🏆 Most Cited Paper
Development of an automated large-scale protein-crystallization and monitoring system for high-throughput protein-structure analyses
66 citations · 2006
📈 Most Prolific Year: 2008 (2 Papers)
🤝 Key Collaborators: 41
🏛 Institutions: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, The University of Tokyo

Top Papers

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Key Collaborators

Contact & Links

Available for collaboration
Content generated · 14 days ago