Moderator:
YAMAMOTO, Yuji
Founder and CEO, MinaCare Co., Ltd.; Chief Healthcare Officer, M3, Inc.;
Mansfield-PhRMA Research Scholars Program Selection Committee Member
Dr. Yamamoto is Founder and CEO at MinaCare, Co., Ltd. which conducts health and productivity management through health data analysis and community engagement promotion with health insurers. He concurrently serves as Chief Healthcare Officer at M3, Inc.
After graduating from the University of Tokyo, he worked as a physician in fields such as cardiology and emergency medicine. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School and has held various roles, including Fellow at the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Planning officer at the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan, and Advisor to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Driven by a mission to create healthcare that prevents illness, he founded MinaCare and actively engages in business development and policy advocacy both domestically and internationally.
His co-authored publications include “Health Investment-based medicine” (2017, Discover 21). He also translated “Redefining Health Care” by Michael E. Porter et al. (2009, Nikkei BP).
Panelists:
HIRAKAWA, Akihiro
Professor, Department of Clinical Biostatistics, Institute of Science Tokyo, 2014 Scholar (Cohort 2)
I earned a Master’s degree in Management Engineering from the Tokyo University of Science in 2006 and began my career as a biostatistician at the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), where I reviewed new drug applications until 2011. In the same year, I completed a Ph.D. in Engineering. Following this, I held positions as an Assistant Professor at the Tokyo University of Science and as a Lecturer and Head of the Statistical Analysis Unit at the Nagoya University Hospital’s Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research. I later served as a Project Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Medicine. Since 2020, I have been a Professor of Clinical Biostatistics at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (now Institute of Science Tokyo). My research focuses on biostatistics, clinical trial methodologies, and regulatory science, aiming to promote efficient clinical trials to support pharmaceutical development.
KAWABORI, Masato
Lecturer, Neurosurgery Hokkaido University; Director and CTO, Rainbow Co. Ltd., 2018 Scholar (Cohort 6)
Dr. Kawabori graduated from Hokkaido University School of Medicine in 2003, then, specializing in neurosurgery. After obtaining his Ph.D. in 2012 through research on stem cells for stroke, he conducted research at UCSF in the United States. Since 2016, he has been engaged in clinical research on stem cell therapy for brain diseases at Hokkaido University, reporting several papers such as, the intra-brain administration of stem cells for cerebral infarction (Med, 2024) and traumatic brain injury (Neurology, 2022). He has received many awards including the Japan Trauma Society Award and the Japan Society of Cerebral Circulation and Metabolism Award. Based on his achievements, he founded a university-originated start-up called RAINBOW in 2019 with the goal of bringing stem cell drugs to market. His start-up won several pitch contests such as Mirai 2020 Medical Healthcare Pitch grand prize. He aim for success as both a physician and entrepreneur, currently focusing on fundraising, technology development, PMDA compliance, and conducting clinical trials.
MISHIMA, Yuta
Assistant Professor, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 2018 Scholar (Cohort 6)
Dr. Mishima is a Doctor of Medicinal Sciences specializing in regenerative medicine, hematology, cancer immunotherapy, epigenetics, and regulatory science. He contributed to establishing the U.S. branch of the world’s first biotech startup to commercialize iPS cells. Following his role as a research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center affiliated with Harvard Medical School, he joined the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University and participated in the T-CiRA program, a collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical. Now based at the University of Tsukuba, his research focuses on advancing cancer treatment by combining iPS cell technology with genetically modified immune cells. At the university hospital, he supports clinical operations for CAR-T cell therapy and oversees cell processing facilities. He also co-founded CancerX and serves as a director for United Japanese Researchers Around the World (UJA).
NAGOSHI, Narihito
Assistant professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, 2019 Scholar (Cohort 7)
I work as a physician-scientist bridging research and clinical practice in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Keio University. In cell transplantation research using iPS cells for spinal cord injury, our lab demonstrated its efficacy in basic study and performed the first human transplantation in 2021. By 2023, our team have completed the target of four transplant cases. In addition, we are laying the foundation for regenerative medicine for spinal cord injury, tailored to different stages of the traumatic disease, through clinical trials involving hepatocyte growth factor administration and the development of treatments using neurorehabilitation. Alongside my research, I am also engaged in clinical practice, particularly with spinal cord tumors, where I handle around 100 surgeries annually, maintaining the highest number of cases in Japan. I am also proactive in work-life balance initiatives, leaving work by 5 p.m. to dedicate time to family and childcare, and I continue to pursue hobbies such as swimming and playing the piano.
IESATO, Asumi
Clinical Research Fellow, Cancer Cell Diversity Project, NEXT-Ganken Program, Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research (JFCR), 2023 Scholar (Cohort 9)
After graduating from Shinshu University School of Medicine, she worked as a breast and endocrine surgeon for 10 years. From the time she was a graduate student through her postdoctoral fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, her main research interest was aggressive thyroid cancer. After returning to Japan, she worked at the Breast Center, Cancer Institute Hospital for the JFCR and then started reverse TR research. Her major research topics are thyroid cancer and breast cancer. Her goals are to improve the anaplastic thyroid cancer prognosis by more than one year and to develop targeted therapies for breast cancer with lymphatic invasion. Her long-term goal is to create a system that acts as a bridge between the hospital and the lab to rapidly provide basic research results to the bedside.