Afterwards he enrolled in the Osaka City University. During the period from 1987 till 198 he worked in the orthopedic surgery at the National Osaka Hospital. He finally graduated with a Ph.D. Degree in the 1993. Afterwards, he moved to the United States and spent a few years at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, California.

After his successful experience in the United States, he comes back to native Osaka in the 1996. He worked at the lab, and didn't like that job, being as "mouse in the trap" and not doing any research projects. Later, he moved for a good position to Nara Institute of Science and Technology. He had an idea to clarify the characteristics of embryonic stem cells and got this job.

Since 1999, he has worked in Nara as an associate professor until 2003. Working there, he got his breakthrough time and even reached a Nobel Prize in the future. Since 2004, he also worked at the Kyoto University, where he served as a professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences till 2010. Working at the Nara University, along with his team, Shinya generated induced pluripotent stem cells from adult mouse in the 2006. Being a professor, he directs the Center for iPS Research and Application in University.

Thanks to his major work of discovering, that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent, in the 2012 he was awarded along with his partner John Gurdon with the Nobel Prize in the sphere of Physiology or Medicine. He is known by his work of an introduction of a small set of transcription factors into a differentiated cell. He proved, that it's surely sufficient to revert the cell to a pluripotent state.

Previously, he served as a professor of anatomy at the University of California. He also was a president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. During his brilliant career he reached a lot of awards. Yamanaka was titled "Person Who Mattered" in the edition of Time Magazine in the 2007. The next year he became a Time 100 Finalist. He also was awarded with the Kyoto Prize in the 2010. He had earned a numerous of money prizes like Millennium Technology Prize with 1.2 million euro and the McEwen Award for Innovation with 100 hundred thousand dollars.

Behind his passion for science, he also has an interest in sport and practiced judo with a black belt. Shinya is a married man. His wife is Chika Yamanaka. They definitely have seen most of what marriage has to offer. Moreover, the couple was blessed with two beautiful daughters. His total net worth is not disclosed by any source. He is available in the social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram where he shares his articles and work results.