Katsushi Arisaka began his research in 1979 at the University of Tokyo as a graduate student under the supervision of Professor Masatoshi Koshiba. The first assignment was to develop the world’s largest, 20-inch photomultiplier for the Kamiokande Experiment. This experiment eventually detected neutrinos from the 1987 Supernova Explosion, then from the Sun, thus opening a new field of science called Neutrino Astronomy. Through this achievement, Toshi Koshiba was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002.

After completing his PhD, Arisaka moved to the US in 1985 and established his own research group at UCLA in 1988. In the 1990’s, he focused on rare kaon-decay processes to understand the asymmetry between particles and antiparticles (called CP violation) at both BNL and Fermilab. Then, in 1998, his research interest shifted towards cosmology, particularly the origin of the universe. To unravel the mystery of the most energetic particles in nature, he participated in the construction of the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina. At the same time, he contributed to the construction of the CMS Endcap Muon Chambers for LHC at CERN in Switzerland. In 2007, Arisaka's interest was redirected to the detection of dark matter particles. C

While working on particle astrophysics in 2006, Arisaka became very intrigued with the mystery of the origin of life and consciousness. He then realized that the most advanced photon detectors used in particle physics could be applied to optical microscopes to speed up biological observation. This new concept sparked many researchers in biology and medicine on the UCLA campus, leading to several fruitful collaborations, ranging from single-molecule observation in live cells to neuroscience at the UCLA Medical School.