Kanichi Nakata joined the Allen Institute in 2025 and serves as a Scientific Project and Alliance Manager supporting research and partnerships in Immunology. He works in close partnership with scientific and operational teams, including the Tissue Immunity and Neuroimmune Interactions teams, to coordinate efforts and accelerate scientific discovery.

Prior to joining the Allen Institute, Kanichi was a Project Manager at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, where he supported an extensive portfolio of clinical interventional and observational studies, including research in aging, dementia, cancer, fall prevention, mental health, and substance use disorders.

Kanichi has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Washington, where he studied brain circuits of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical network, leveraging advanced chemogenetic techniques and behavioral models to better understand the neurobiology of substance use disorders. He worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute Center for Integrative Brain Research, investigating the distinct behavioral roles of the subthalamic nucleus and its afferents in sensitization to stimulant drugs. Kanichi received his BA in Psychology and BS in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at the University of California, Davis.

‍