​Shozo Yokoyama earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology in Japan, and a Ph.D. degree in biomathematics in 1977 from the University of Washington. He moved to Emory's Department of Biology in 2003 as an endowed chair, Asa G. Candler Professor of Biology.

Previously, Dr. Yokoyama was at Washington University (1978-1987, Assist Professor), the University of Illinois (1987-1991, Assoc. Professor), and Syracuse University (1991-2003). His research focuses on molecular genetics and the evolution of dim-light and color vision. Since 1990, his lab has been conducting genetic analyses of the visual pigments of a diverse range of organisms. His lab was the first to identify the amino acids that regulate red-green color vision and UV vision in various vertebrate species. These and other analyses on the origin and evolution of color vision produced "the deepest body of knowledge linking differences in specific genes to differences in ecology and to the evolution of species (The Making of The Fittest by Sean Carroll, 2006)."

Dr. Yokoyama is currently trying to understand the molecular genetics and evolution of vertebrate and invertebrate vision using quantum chemistry. He is author and coauthor of over 150 articles. He was a Panel member of the Genetics Study Section at National Institutes of Health (1988-1991) and was a President of American Genetics Association (2003).