How AI and Science are Driving the Future of Medicine:
Advancing US-Japan Healthcare Collaboration From Kansai to the World
日米の連携によるAIとサイエンスに基づいた未来医療の実践~
Osaka万博の風に乗って未来医療を関西から世界に届けよう
Japan Healthcare Week, featuring Conference Events in Tokyo (Sep. 16) and Osaka (Sep. 19)
Friday, September 19, 2025
9:00AM – 5:05PM
Reception: 5:10PM – 7:10PM
Nakanoshima Qross
4 Chome-3-51 Nakanoshima
Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0005
Originally launched in 2014, the US-Japan Healthcare Innovation Conference is dedicated to driving innovation in the healthcare sectors of the US and Japan by bringing together leaders in the life sciences industry, government and academia to discuss the latest trends and topics that are changing the face of healthcare.
This year’s theme is: How AI and Science are Driving the Future of Medicine: Advancing US-Japan Healthcare Collaboration From Kansai to the World (日米の連携によるAIとサイエンスに基づいた未来医療の実践~Osaka万博の風に乗って未来医療を関西から世界に届けよう). We expect hundreds of attendees from the private, public and academic sectors in Japan. Past attendees have included representatives from companies such as CMIC, Hoya, Kaneka, Mitsubishi Corp., NIPRO, Otsuka, Ricoh, Sumitomo, Takeda, Terumo, UTEC and many more, as well as government agencies including AMED. JETRO, MHLW, METI and others.
The conference is organized by the www.usjhealthcare.org US-Japan Healthcare Connection a collaborative initiative of the Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC) and US-Japan Medtech Frontiers (USJMF), two organizations dedicated to promoting cooperation and understanding between the US and Japan. Our partners and co-organizers for this year’s event are LINK-J Japan, and the Graduate School of Medicine, Division of Health Sciences, The University of Osaka.
Registration Opens 8:30am - 9:00am
Registration and Pre-Event Networking Time
Opening Remarks 9:00am - 9:15am
Welcome and Overview of the Forum
Shinichi Maeda
Director, Growth Industry Promotion Office, Department of Commerce, Industry and Labor, Osaka Prefecture
Jason Richard Cubas
Consul General,
Consulate-General of the
United States, Osaka
Steve Pollock
President, Japan Society of Northern California
Keynote Speech 1 9:15am - 9:35am
Future medicine for longevity from Nakanoshima, Kansai
Dr. Yoshiki Sawa
Specially Appointed Professor, Division of Health Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Director of Osaka Keisatsu Hospital & President, Organization of Future Medicine
Keynote Speech 2 9:35am - 10:05am
Topic: Access and Opportunities in Rare Diseases – Soleno’s Journey
Anish Bhatnagar
Chairman of the Board & CEO,
Soleno Therapeutics Inc
Video Speech 10:05am - 10:15am
Biodesign at 25 years –
Evolving Successfully to Meet a Changing Global and Technology (AI) Landscape
Gordon Saul
Executive Director at Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign & Adjunct Professor, Bioengineering, Stanford University
Panel Discussion 1
10:15am-10:55am
Impact of AI on Life Science Innovation
Startup Showcase Presentations Round 1
10:55am - 11:25am
Panel Discussion 2
11:25am - 12:20pm
Alternative Approaches to Monetizing Life Science and MedTech Innovation
Lunch
12:20pm - 1:00pm
Lunch Break
Special Presentation
1:00pm - 1:40pm
Recent Progress in iPS Cell Research and Application
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka
Director Emeritus of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University & Senior Investigator and the L.K. Whittier Foundation Investigator in Stem Cell Biology at the Gladstone Institute for Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) & President of Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, CiRA Foundation
Break
1:40pm - 1:55pm
Break
Panel Discussion 3
1:55pm - 2:50pm
Building Global Enterprises in Life Sciences: US and Japanese Approaches
Moderator: Elton Satusky
Partner,
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Anish Bhatnagar
Chairman of the Board & CEO, Soleno Therapeutics Inc
Keita Mori
CEO, SanBio
Break
2:50pm - 3:05pm
Break
Fireside Chat
3:05pm - 3:45pm
Roundtable Discussion:
Innovation Ecosystem Building, Global Collaboration, Policy Making
Break
3:45pm - 3:55pm
Break
Startup Showcase Presentations Round 2
3:55pm - 4:55pm
Sam Frishman
Founder & CEO, Medical Devices Corner (MDV)
Ryan McGuinness
Commercial General Manager, Triple Ring Technologies, Scaled Cell Solutions
Moe Kawai
Marketing Lead, Simplex Quantum, Inc.
Closing Remarks
4:55pm - 5:05pm
Takahide Akiyama
Board Vice Chair,
Japan Society of Northern California
Dr. Masakazu Yagi
Endowed Course Associate Professor,
Div. of Health Sciences,
Graduate School of Medicine,
Osaka University
Reception
5:10pm - 7:10pm
Reception & Social Networking
Yamada joined NVIDIA Japan in 2004 following experience at a Japanese semiconductor company. After leading business development across PCs, workstations, and embedded systems, Yamada launched NVIDIA’s healthcare business and AI startup acceleration programs in Japan in 2016. Since 2021, Yamada has been dedicated to empowering healthcare developers, driving technical partnerships and enablements across AI medical devices, genomics, AI computational drug discovery, and digital health.
Richard N. Larsen, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Osaka-Kobe, Japan. His prior work in Japan includes serving as Deputy Chief of the Political-Military Affairs Unit at the U.S. Embassy from 2016 to 2019. Richard’s other overseas assignments include postings in Islamabad, Pakistan, as well as multiple assignments in China and Iraq.
In Washington, Richard served in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Assistant Secretary and as Director of the Office of Regional and Security Policy.
Before joining the State Department, Richard served in the U.S. Army. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College and Brigham Young University Law School. Richard is married and is joined in Japan by his wife; they have four grown children.
リチャード・N・ラーセン ― 在大阪・神戸米国総領事館総領事
*下記の日本語文書は参考のための仮翻訳で、正文は英文です。
リチャード・N・ラーセンは、国務省の上級外交官であり、在大阪・神戸米国総領事館総領事を務める。2016年から2019年までは、在日米国大使館の政治部安全保障課に課長補佐として勤務した。また、パキスタンのイスラマバードでの勤務経験もあり、中国とイラクへは複数回赴任している。
ワシントンでは、国務省東アジア・太平洋局で、次官補室の首席補佐官や地域・安全保障政策室長を務めた。
国務省入省前は、陸軍に所属。米陸軍戦略大学、ブリガム・ヤング大学法科大学院を卒業した。日本には妻と赴任。成人した4人の子どもがいる。
After working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tokyo, Dr. Hayashi engaged in drug discovery research in the field of neurological diseases (e.g., Target ID/validation, development of in vitro assay systems) as a researcher at Merck Research Laboratories, USA and Toray Pharmaceutical Research Laboratories, Inc. in Japan. After working as COO at Hamamatsu Pharma Research USA, Inc. in San Diego, U.S., he joined Open Innovation Center at Bayer Japan in May 2020 and was involved in programs such as the startup support program “Kansai Life Science Accelerator Program and a shared lab/office space, CoLaborator Kobe.
Since May 2023, he has been involved in fostering the life science innovation ecosystem and promoting overseas collaboration as Executive Life Science Strategist at Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. and President & COO at LINK-J.
PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo, R.Ph., and MBA from University of California, San Diego.
Felix co-founded Integrated Bio after serving as an NIH-funded independent fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of AI and biology. His research has been published in over 30 scientific papers and in leading journals such as Nature, Science, and Cell, and he has pioneered the use of AI approaches for discovering novel small-molecule compounds, including senolytics and antibiotics.
As Head of Operations at KORTUC INC., Seiko Kuroda is bringing a Japan-born cancer treatment technology to the global stage. She led the establishment of KORTUC’s U.S. operations as the company expanded its clinical development internationally. She now leads fundraising, business development, and planning for product launches in the U.S. and Europe.
Thanh Nguyen, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at UNMC and a healthcare entrepreneur committed to decentralizing medical care and closing global health equity gaps. Leveraging frontline clinical experience since 2010, Dr. Nguyen champions open-source design and advanced technologies like AI and 3D printing to create scalable, low-cost medical solutions. He is the founder of Open-MediciNE (2020), an initiative enabling low-resource communities to produce off-grid medical equipment locally. As a founding partner of UMD Inc. (2021), HemaGlobal (2024), and FlySwift Studios (2026), Dr. Nguyen combines commercial agility with humanitarian engineering to expand healthspan and transform global healthcare delivery.
Mainul Mondal is the Co-Founder and CEO at Ellipsis Health. Driven by his mother’s health journey and the power of empathetic care, Mainul founded Ellipsis Health to transform healthcare through conversational AI. Ellipsis Health’s pioneering vocal biomarker technology, backed by extensive research, led to the creation of Sage, an emotionally intelligent AI voice agent addressing staffing shortages and enhancing cost containment for large hospital systems, health plans, and specialty care managers. As a Nasdaq Milestone Maker and Rockefeller Fellow at the Public Health Institute, Mainul is a recognized leader shaping a future where technology and empathy converge to make quality care accessible to everyone.
Samet Yildirim is a biotech entrepreneur and business executive focused on
translating breakthrough stem cell and regenerative biology into scalable
therapeutic and commercial platforms. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Business
Officer of HexemBio, where he leads strategy, partnerships, and financing for a
longevity-focused biotechnology company. Prior to HexemBio, Samet founded and
built a stem cell technology startup from the ground up, advancing its technology
from early development through global scale-up and ultimately to a successful
acquisition. He previously spent nearly a decade at Boehringer Ingelheim, where
he served as Global Head of Technology and Innovation and led the development
of next-generation manufacturing platforms and digital CMC technologies for the
company’s biopharma business unit. Samet holds a Master of Business and Science
from Keck Graduate Institute and a Master of Science in Biophysics from Ankara
University.
Vik Kashyap is the Founder & CEO of Toi Labs, developer of TrueLoo, an AI-powered health monitoring platform that transforms the toilet into a source of longitudinal health data. Toi Labs’ work has been supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and leading global bathroom companies, including TOTO and Sloan. Vik previously developed a novel treatment approach for inflammatory bowel disease, co-authored research published in Science Translational Medicine, and is a graduate of Harvard University.
Paul Grimm is CEO and Board Member of Myoptechs, a pediatric ophthalmic medical device company developing patented soft contact lens and spectacle technologies designed to slow the progression of myopia in children. He has more than 20 years of commercial and executive leadership experience across medical devices, pharmaceuticals, medical nutrition, and consumer health, including leadership roles at Abbott Laboratories and Medicis Pharmaceutical. Over the past six years, Paul has focused on ophthalmology, including the development and commercialization of innovative early-stage technologies. At Myoptechs, he leads the company’s strategy, financing, clinical development, and strategic partnerships.
Ziad Ali is the co-founder and CEO of Clairvoyance, a Stanford spinout developing wearable biomagnetic sensing technology for health monitoring and medical devices. Ziad earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University under Prof. Ada Poon, where he developed the magnetic pixel technology powering Clairvoyance’s sensors. His work has been supported by the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, National Science Foundation GRFP award, and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.
Chen-Sen (“Samson”) Wu, JD, MD, is an attorney-physician with 20+ years of legal, medical affairs, and commercial launch experience across global pharma, med tech, and diagnostics companies, including multiple General Counsel roles at GE HealthCare, as Vice President of Global Medical Affairs at GSK leading 300+ professionals, and currently as General Counsel as well as Interim Vice President of Strategy and Value Enablement at Cepheid (a Danaher company). He combines broad legal, crisis management, and organizational change leadership – including championing adoption of legal AI technology (see https://lnkd.in/p/gMpg4d6s) – with deep domain expertise in healthcare regulations, product launches, medical and scientific affairs, mass tort / products liability litigation, and cross-border anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABAC) investigations as part of a 3-year assignment to Singapore. He has served 10+ years on non-profit boards including as Secretary and on Audit, Governance, and Long-Range Planning committees for an academic center for Duke University students and faculty, a K-12 private school, organizations combatting human trafficking, and a clinic providing healthcare to underserved communities. Samson received his degrees from Yale Law School, Duke University School of Medicine, and Stanford University.
Toshihiro Maeda serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nxera Pharma Co., Ltd. and Representative Director and President of Nxera Pharma Japan Co., Ltd. Prior to joining Nxera Pharma, he served as a Business Unit Head at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) in Japan, where he led the post-merger integration following the acquisition of Celgene and drove commercialization strategy. Before joining BMS, he held roles at Merck & Co. (MSD in Japan), focusing on partnerships and commercialization in the oncology and diabetes therapeutic areas in both Japan and the United States. He brings extensive experience in global leadership and pharmaceutical commercialization. He joined Nxera Pharma as COO in December 2023.
Yuta Inokuchi is Chief Operating Officer of SOLA Biosciences Japan, the Tokyo-based subsidiary of Boston-headquartered SOLA Biosciences Inc. The company is developing AAV-based gene therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead program, SOL-257, is in preclinical development for ALS and is supported by a subsidy from AMED’s Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem. Yuta heads the Japanese subsidiary and leads program management for research and development, which SOLA runs as a single integrated effort across its US and Japan teams. Before joining SOLA, he spent more than ten years at L.E.K. Consulting, where he was a Partner and Head of Japan, advising pharmaceutical, biotech, and medtech companies and their investors on strategy. He studied molecular biology and neuroscience at International Christian University and the University of Tokyo.
Physician-scientist and academic leader specializing in human induced pluripotent stem cell(iPSC)-based
disease modeling, drug discovery, precision medicine, and clinical translation. His work has established a
continuum from the development of human iPSC-derived neuronal models and phenotypic screening
technologies to the identification of therapeutic targets, clinical evaluation of iPSC-derived drug candidates,
and integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning with human disease-model data.
He has extensive experience in connecting stem cell science with clinical medicine, pharmaceutical
development, industry, and international scientific communities.
LEADERSHIP AT THE INTERFACE OF STEM CELL SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
Website: https://inoue.cira.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/
Dr. Stubbs is an Assistant Professor and Director of Translational Science at The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, where her work focuses on researching ketone esters for healthy aging. She completed her PhD in Metabolic Physiology at the University of Oxford. Whilst completing her studies she was a two-time World Champion in lightweight rowing on Team Great Britain. Brianna spent two years as Research Lead at a San Francisco start-up, where she launched the world’s first ketone ester consumer product and received $6M of funding from the US Special Operations Command to investigate exogenous ketone impacts on performance in extreme environments. Since moving to The Buck, she received the inaugural NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion K01 award, launched a second consumer product and co-founded a ketone-therapeutic company. In 2023, Dr Stubbs co-established the Buck Clinical Geroscience Unit to run the first onsite clinical studies at The Buck.
Masayuki joined Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC in 2007. From 2010, he took part in the second founding of Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support, establishing its Silicon Valley office in 2015 and leading its expansion to 260 employees across five global locations as COO. He supported numerous Japanese companies in digital and service transformation, and held roles including COO/Partner at Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support and Emerging Growth Leader at Deloitte Private Asia Pacific.
In June 2025, he joined Sompo Holdings, Inc. as Group Co-CDO and Executive Vice President. Leveraging his extensive track record and robust global network, he leads the group’s digital, data, and AI initiatives.
Hirokazu Shimoda joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI, Japan) in 1999, and he was engaged in promoting various industries, including IT, cybersecurity, biotechnology and cell and gene therapy, healthcare, and the service sector. From 2016 to 2020, he served as Senior Director of the San Francisco Office of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), concurrently holding a position as a Fellow at the World Economic Forum’s Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
After returning to Japan, he held key positions at METI, including Director of the Information Systems Division and Director of the Bio-Industry Division, where he was responsible for biotechnology industry policy. Since July 2025, he has been serving as a Senior Director at the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), overseeing the practical application of research outcomes and the promotion of the drug development ecosystem.
Joe Heanue is the CEO of Triple Ring, where he is responsible for the firm’s overall vision, culture, and technical excellence. Drawing on a background in physics, engineering, and entrepreneurship, he builds multidisciplinary teams, leads growth partnerships with large corporations, and steers high-value R&D efforts across the healthcare technology landscape.
Hiroki Sugita is a partner in Orrick’s Tokyo Office and a member of the M&A and Private Equity Group. He works on a wide range of cross-border transactions including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, emerging companies and venture capital transactions, and private equity investment especially in Japan, the United States, Europe and Asia.
Hiroki has extensive experience and deep expertise in the life sciences sector and provides support to clients in a wide range of areas, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, digital health, research, laboratories, medical devices and diagnostic tools.
He also has extensive experience in fund formation, real estate and various types of finance transactions.
Hiroki has a deep understanding of clients’ needs from his secondment experience with a U.S. investment bank in 2005 and a Japanese major trading house from 2012 to 2014.
Joe Alexander Jr., MD, PhD, FACC, is Senior Vice President and Director of Medical & Health
Informatics at NTT Research, where he leads Precision Cardiology and development of a
cardiovascular bio-digital twin platform. A physician-scientist and biomedical engineer trained at
Johns Hopkins, with clinical and research fellowships at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and
Kyushu University, he brings deep expertise in cardiovascular dynamics, modeling and
simulation, and translational medicine. His career spans academic medicine, more than 18 years
of leadership roles at Pfizer across R&D, medical affairs, clinical technology, and business
development, and current work building strategic partnerships to advance data-driven,
personalized cardiovascular care. He is an experienced innovator with a strong publication
record and a practical focus on translating complex biomedical technologies into clinically and
commercially meaningful solutions.
Dr. Jianyu (Daniel) Wu is a biologist by training with a background in stem cell research. Following his postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University, Dr. Wu joined Insilico Medicine as a Biology Project Leader in R&D, where he spearheaded early-stage drug discovery across immunology, oncology, and CNS diseases. Notably, he led the successful nomination of a Preclinical Candidate (PCC) that subsequently received FDA IND approval.
In May 2023, Dr. Wu transitioned to the Business Development team. He now oversees external collaborations for Insilico’s proprietary AI drug discovery platform, AI drug discovery collaboration as well as the out-licensing of the internal pipeline in APAC region including Japan and South Korea. He has been driving and closed multiple AI drug discovery collaboration with total deal value approximal $3 billion and being a key contributor to multiple global pharmaceutical deals.
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/danieljwu316
Gregg Yoshito Shibata (柴田 義人) is a 25-year healthcare veteran with deep expertise navigating U.S. health plans and the healthcare venture ecosystem. He leads the strategic investment program at Blue Shield of California, one of California’s largest nonprofit health plans, where he keeps one foot in the health plan world and one foot in the venture ecosystem – building collaborative and commercial partnerships between internal business leaders and innovative startups.
As an investor, Gregg manages a portfolio spanning direct investments and venture funds across multiple venture-firm partners. As a partnership enabler, he has driven more than 38 commercial contracts, delivering over $100M in revenue to startup partners over his career. His earlier career includes leadership roles at Echo Health Ventures, Quil Health (a joint venture between Independence Blue Cross and Comcast), and Cambia Health Solutions.
Since 2023, Gregg has applied this experience to help Japanese enterprises, entrepreneurs, and investors enter the U.S. healthcare market, advising on a variety of topics such as reimbursement strategy, go-to-market approaches, and commercialization pathways. He is an Advisor to Kicker Ventures and has collaborated on a number of projects with JETRO, METI, Mitsubishi Corporation, Nozomi MedAlliance, and TheraNova around accelerator programming, reimbursement education, and startup mentoring.
A third-generation Japanese American, Gregg graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Japanese History. He then immersed himself in Japanese culture through the JET Program, spending four years teaching in Kitadaito, Okinawa (沖縄県北大東村). He returned to the U.S. in 2001 to build his healthcare career but continues to return to Japan to visit family, friends, and former students, and actively supports Japanese and Japanese American cultural exchange through local community organizations.
Paul Gadiock is a Partner at McDermott Will & Schulte’s San Francisco’s office. He leverages his firsthand experience at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide life sciences, healthcare and other domestic and foreign FDA-regulated companies with practical, strategic counsel at every phase of the product life cycle. Paul supports medical device, digital therapeutic, and biopharma companies, drug compounders, software as a medical device (SaMD) and clinical decision support (CDS) developers and their investors on FDA regulatory and due diligence matters, delivering premarket and postmarket regulatory guidance to maximize business outcomes.
Previously, Paul was a member of the senior leadership team at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, where he advised agency officials on issues related to the regulatory scope of the FDA’s policies, programs, regulations, and legislation affecting the medical device industry. He also collaborated with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Government Accountability Office(GAO) on analyses, investigations and oversight of major national programs. In addition to his government experience, Paul provides a commercially minded approach rooted in real-world experience as a former business development executive at a national diagnostic biotechnology company.
Dan Belsky is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public in the Robert N Butler Columbia Aging Center, where he directs the Center’s Geroscience Computational Core. His group develops methods to quantify the pace and progress of biological aging in young, midlife, and older adult humans and applies these methods in epidemiological studies and clinical trials to identify opportunities for intervention to increase healthy lifespan. Dan has been recognized as a leader in his field with the Academy of Behavioral Medicine’s Neal Miller New Investigator Award and the American Federation for Aging Research’s Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award. He is a fellow of the Academies of Behavioral Medicine and Geroscience. His work is supported by the US National Institute on Aging, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), among other sources. He is co-director of the AFAR FAST Initiative and a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of AFAR, the Biomarkers of Aging Consortium, and X-Prize Healthspan. He is an inventor of the Pace of Aging method and the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock. Since 2020, he has been named an ISI highly-cited researcher.
Chris is a director and head of the intellectual property business at Certum Group. He leads Certum’s IP licensing, funding, acquisition and litigation strategies. Chris has nearly 25 years of experience monetizing IP rights for patent holders, including for major multinational life science and healthcare companies.
Before joining Certum, Chris was a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group for three years, where he was responsible for securing new patent investment opportunities and maximizing return on investment.
Prior to Fortress, Chris was in private practice for over 21 years at Robins Kaplan LLC. He represented plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes IP and business disputes. He tried several patent cases to verdict, including a patent trial win that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Chris has been globally recognized for his IP strategy and monetization work in the IAM Strategy 300 and IAM Strategy Global Leader publications. He was also nationally recognized in the US as an “Intellectual Property Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal.
Yoshiki Sawa, MD, PhD is Specially Appointed Professor at the Division of Health Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, President of Osaka Police Hospital, and President of the Organization of Future Medicine.
He graduated from Osaka University Faculty of Medicine in 1980 and completed his training in general, thoracic, and cardiovascular surgery (1981–1985). He obtained his PhD in 1987 and subsequently trained as a Research Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute in Germany (1987–1989) as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. He was appointed Lecturer at Osaka University Hospital in 1997, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery in 2000, and Professor at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in 2004. From 2017 to 2019, he served as Dean of the Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University. Since September 2021, he has held his current positions.
I am a technology leader and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in medical device development, operations, regulatory affairs, and commercialization. My expertise spans the full product lifecycle—from concept and design through manufacturing, quality management, clinical trials, regulatory submissions, and market entry. I have co-founded companies, raised over $40million in venture funding, and successfully brought novel diagnostic and surgical products to global markets.
My foundation in materials science and engineering, combined with hands-on leadership on cross-functional teams has enabled me to integrate engineering, business strategy, and compliance in regulated environments. I have served as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Technical Officer and Vice President. I have also frequently lead the team during ISO, FDA, and Regulatory Body audits and interactions. I remain committed to advancing patient care through innovative technologies, disciplined quality systems, and effective commercialization strategies. I look forward to speaking with you about the challenges your facing and that I can help.
Wang Yen Po is a seasoned biomedical engineering leader with deep expertise in the development of neuromodulation systems. With other 8 years of research and industry experience, he has led end-to-end development from early R&D to animal and clinical studies. He is also the core inventor of 8 patents (as of 2025) focusing on wireless power transfer, smart algorithms and system integration for implant medical technologies.
Wang Yen Po holds Ph.D in Human Engineering from The University of Tokyo, worked for BOSCH, BE Health Ventures, and now as Co-founder and CTO at INOPASE.
A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, class of Career Minister, John Breidenstine began his assignment as Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo August 2025. Before his current assignment, John served as the Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs in Mexico City (2023-25); Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs and ASEAN Regional Senior Commercial Officer in Bangkok (2019-2023); Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs and Senior Commercial Officer for Europe at the U.S. Mission to the European Union (2015-2019); Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs in London (2011-15); U.S. Consul General in Hermosillo, Mexico (2008-11); Regional Director for Europe and Eurasia (2006-08); and Commercial Counselor in Mexico City (2003-06).
Eran Steinberg is the CSO at Theranova, A San Francisco medical device accelerator, where he manages a new foundry dedicated to helping foreign companies commercialize their products in the US.
Eran has an MSc. in Imaging from RIT and MSc. in Regulatory Science John Hopkins. He is the Founder/CEO of five companies with successful exits and inventor on over 300 issued patents. He is an adjunct lecturer at John Hopkins university biotech entrepreneurship program and Tel Aviv School of Medicine, a licensed USPTO patent agent, and extensive business experience in Japan.
Kenji Taira is the Representative Director of Genesis MedTech Japan. He co-founded Delawave, a Japan-based startup that developed a PMDA-approved cardiovascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) catheter and imaging system, which was later acquired by Genesis MedTech.
Mr. Mori has been Chief Executive Officer and has served as a member of the Board since SanBio’s inception in 2001. Prior to founding SanBio, Mr. Mori was Head of New Product Development from 2000 to 2001 at Xuma, an informatics startup in San Francisco.
Carolina Garcia Rizo is Founder and Managing Partner of Deep Frontier Ventures, focused on in early-stage deep tech companies across AI, quantum, and life sciences. She is also Co-Founder and CEO of ONCore Venture Studio, which creates oncology companies out of university research and pharma assets and brings them toward the clinic, with a wet lab in South San Francisco.
She has served as Chief Business Officer at two AI-native platform companies: Just Biotherapeutics, which sold to Evotec, and Immuneering, which supported through IPO. Earlier she held senior business leadership roles at Roche, as Head of Business Development for Oncology and Genomics, and at Cepheid (Danaher) and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Carolina holds a PhD in atomic and molecular physics and an MBA from MIT Sloan. She was named a Remarkable Woman in AI in 2025, and serves on the board and advisory boards of Kipu Quantum, QuantPi, and Oisin Bio.
Jason is the CEO of Vantis Vascular, Inc. a commercial stage medical device company focusing on improving the state of care in cardiovascular procedures. Jason has over 20 years of experience building early and commercial stage medical device companies. With roles covering early product feasibility and market assessment to growth manufacturing and large-scale commercial expansion in the US and Europe, Jason has acquired a unique breadth and depth of experience.
Mark Amouzgar is the CEO and Co-founder of March.Health, a pioneering healthtech company recognized by the U.S.-Japan Trade Commission for its transformative potential in women’s health. Under his leadership, March.Health is developing the world’s most advanced digital twin platform for complex women’s health conditions—leveraging multi-modal data including genomics, clinical records, and patient-reported outcomes. This high-fidelity modeling empowers pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations to de-risk and accelerate clinical trials, identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and deliver truly personalized medicine.
William (Bill) Gaede is a partner with McDermott, Will & Schulte LLP and is widely known as one of the foremost U.S. intellectual property litigators for the life sciences and medical device industries. He serves as lead counsel for a wide range of companies and research institutes and has extensive experience in litigating life science technologies such as antibodies, proteins, small molecules, and diagnostics. In his role as lead counsel, he works with his clients to implement several approaches to monetize intellectual property.
Dr. Bhatnagar, a physician by training, has been our Chief Executive Officer since the creation of Soleno in 2017. With nearly three decades in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries, Dr. Bhatnagar’s experience spans development of biologics, drugs, drug-device combinations and diagnostic as well as therapeutic medical devices. At Soleno, Dr. Bhatnagar leads the team responsible for developing and commercializing VYKAT XR, the first FDA-approved therapy for hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome.
Yasushi Kajii obtained his Ph.D. degree in applied biological chemistry from The University of Tokyo. After engaging in molecular psychopharmacological research at the National Center for Psychiatry and Neurology, he held positions such as research and medical affairs at local and global pharma companies such as Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, AbbVie, and Novartis. He joined Takeda in April 2019 to manage T-CiRA Program together with Professor Yamanaka and assumed the current position in April 2023 to oversee all R&D activities in Japan. Cross-appointed to Professor, Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University.
Gordon is the Executive Director of the Mussallem Center for Biodesign at Stanford University, and an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering. At Biodesign, Gordon is responsible for teaching on company formation, several translational grant programs, and Biodesign’s global partnerships.
We welcome your application to pitch your company at the Conference.
Application Deadline: September 7, 2026
We are seeking early to mid-stage companies from the following sectors:
There are no application fees, but selected companies will be responsible for their own travel and lodging costs and asked to pay a $500 per company program fee that can be applied toward 2026-27 corporate membership in Japan Society. Applications will be evaluated based on alignment with the program theme, interest in the Japanese market, timely response, and commitment to full participation. We will prioritize applications from companies that are offering solutions in the areas of healthspan, longevity, and age-related diseases.
Early submission is encouraged as space is limited.
To apply or learn more, please contact:
Tomoya Nagata is the Founder and Managing Partner of D3 LLC, a firm dedicated to venture creation and investment in the bio-healthcare sector. Prior to establishing D3 in 2017, he worked at McKinsey & Company (focused on growth strategy and innovation) and FIL Capital Management (HK) Ltd., a U.S.-based private equity firm investing in biotech and healthcare ventures. Since 2020, he has led the operation of the D3 BioHealthcare Fund L.P., and began managing its second fund in 2024.
Toshio Fujimoto, MD., MBA, is CEO of iPark Institute and operating a science park where more than 110 life science companies from startups to big pharmaceuticals are clustered. Dr. Fujimoto graduated from Kyoto University, Faculty of Medicine in 1994. After completing residency at the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Kyoto University and its affiliated hospitals, he served as a thoracic surgeon in multi-countries, including Ruhrlandklinik and University of Freiburg in Germany and Mayo Clinic in the US.
Ryan has spent 35 years in the Life Sciences and Medical Device industries focusing on
innovation and adding value to the companies that drive it. He has worked with numerous
companies that have invented novel technologies for a range of markets, including cell and
gene therapies, biotherapeutics, biotech instrumentation, in vitro diagnostics, and
medical devices. At Triple Ring Technologies, Ryan leads teams of world class scientists
and engineers who work at the intersection of patient needs and cutting-edge technology
development. Within the Agility Labs incubator, a subsidiary of Triple Ring Technologies, he
helps select the brightest startups for participation and supports their growth. As an active
participant in the North American innovation ecosystem, Ryan also spends time
connecting early-stage companies to the infrastructure, know-how and funding needed to
successfully bring new products to market. Ryan was trained in genetics and molecular
cell biology at the University of California at Davis.
Jack provides advisory services to companies and organizations, primarily early-stage ventures in
the field of healthcare. He is also co-founder of US-Japan Medtech Frontiers, a nonprofit
organization which recently joined with the Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC).
With an undergraduate degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois, Jack initially worked
in the semiconductor industry. Jack was the first employee sponsored by Intel to attend the
Masters Sloan Program at the Stanford University Business School. He has held a number of
senior management positions including: Director of Engineering at Fairchild Test Systems;
President of Nanometics, a public company; and CEO of Microbar, a turn-around. He has been a
co-founder of six start-ups including medical device companies Cardiac Mariners and Vivant
Medical and has fourteen issued U.S. patents.
After graduating from Jichi Medical University, he began practicing general medicine in the rural areas of Japan. Fumiaki joined the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University in 2001, and was closely involved with the R&D, animal studies, and clinical studies of many medical device startups. He is also actively involved in projects with the US and Japanese regulatory agencies working to create an effective cross-border medical device eco-system. Fumiaki has also been an advisory faculty for the Stanford Biodesign Program since 2014. He is deeply involved with the development of the Japan Biodesign Program and is working diligently to establish a Silicon Valley-like medical device eco-system in Japan.
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka is the Director Emeritus of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University and a Senior Investigator and the L.K. Whittier Foundation Investigator in Stem Cell Biology at the Gladstone Institute for Cardiovascular Disease (GICD). He is also President of Public Interest Incorporated Foundation, CiRA Foundation.
Steve Pollock assumed the position of President of Japan Society of Northern California on August 23, 2022. Previously a JSNC Board member, Mr. Pollock has been actively involved with a number of the Society’s signature initiatives, including starting JSNC’s operations in Japan in 2016, leading the corporate membership committee, and serving on the steering committee for the annual Innovation Awards.
Keita Masui (増井 慶太) is Managing Partner of ASAGI Labs Ventures LLC, which describes itself as Japan’s first longevity and frontier life-sciences fund and which he runs with Prof. Motoshi Hayano. He is also CEO of Industrial Drive LLC and of BAIOX Inc., and works across investment, company creation and business development in longevity, life sciences and healthcare. He is based in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Prof. Shinya Yamamoto is a serial entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, business executive, angel investor, startup mentor, and social physicist. As Founder and CEO of Link & Innovation, Inc., he spearheads innovative ventures while serving as Guest Professor in the Division of Global and Innovative Medicine at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, as well as at the Center for Global Health and Academic Clinical Research Center, Department of Medical Innovation at Osaka University Hospital, with a focus on social entrepreneurship.
After working at IBM Japan and McKinsey & Company, Masa founded AZCA, Inc. in Silicon Valley in 1985. Since then, he has been actively supporting the creation of new businesses between Japanese and U.S. companies, particularly in high-tech sectors including MedTech and life sciences. From 1987 to 2016, he also worked as a venture capital investor, first in Japan and later in Silicon Valley.
Peter Bauer is a visionary leader and seasoned expert in the medical device industry, with three decades of experience advancing innovations in cardiology and heart failure management. His career is defined by a commitment to transforming patient outcomes through groundbreaking technologies in implantable therapeutic devices and non-invasive cardiac diagnostics.
Kirk Zeller is a medical device industry veteran whose career has been dedicated to commercializing medical device technologies around the world and building medical device companies. Kirk completed most of his undergraduate studies in Japan, started his career as a heart valve sales rep in Japan, and has spent much of his career helping companies get into international markets with a particular focus on Japan. Kirk served on the board of US-Japan MedTech Frontiers prior to it becoming US-Japan Healthcare Connection. He is a Council Leader of the US-Japan Council and co-chair of the U.S.-Japan Council Healthcare Group.
Moe Kawai is the Marketing Lead at Simplex Quantum Inc., a pioneering MedTech company developing AI-powered solutions for heart health. She brings over a decade of cross-functional experience in healthcare, including roles in R&D, product planning, and marketing. At Simplex Quantum, she leads the global marketing strategy for NIHA-HF, the company’s flagship AI solution for early heart failure detection.
Sam Frishman is Founder and CEO of MDC. He received a PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford University in 2021, an MS in 2017, and a BS from Johns Hopkins University in 2015. MDC’s underlying technology was part of Sam’s PhD work.
Abhishek Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO of Kinexcs, a startup that builds AI-driven health platforms and wearable medical devices to enable and empower people for mobility and a better quality of life. He has over 12 years of industry experience, seven out of which were spent building his startup company, Kinexcs Private Limited. Previously, he worked in high precision manufacturing sector, where he built monitoring solutions for machines used for manufacturing of implantable medical devices.
Munemasa Sugimoto holds a Bachelor of Arts in Policy Management from Keio University and a Master of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School. He has worked at KPMG AZSA LLC (CPA auditing), Novartis Pharma K.K. (Business planning), and CDI Medical, Inc. (Management consulting) before joining the Japan Biodesign Fellowship Program at the University of Tokyo from 2019-2020.
Dr. Ryan James is the CEO and Founder of Dopl Technologies, where he is pioneering the use of robotics and AI to deliver distributed, on-demand diagnostic care to underserved communities.
Alex Yoshikawa, Ph.D., is the Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Adaptyx Biosciences. A Stanford University spin-off, Adaptyx is developing a next-generation biomonitoring platform built on over 15 years of foundational research, enabling minimally invasive, real-time, continuous sensing of small molecules and proteins.
Dr. Burnett is a veteran in the medical device industry having founded many successful companies at various stages. During his undergraduate career at the University of Pennsylvania, he focused on bioengineering and spent a year at the Food and Drug Administration both testing devices and writing congressional reports on the current state-of-the-art devices. He then went on to Duke University where he completed his MD and his MBA. A licensed physician in the state of California, he finished his one-year internship at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and matched for a residency in Ophthalmology at Stanford University which he deferred while he worked on starting his first venture, BAROnova.
Ms. Oishi is the President and COO of CMIC HOLDINGS Co. Ltd., responsible for group-wide business execution.
Ms. Oishi received her Master of Science degree from the University of Tokyo. She started her career at Nikkei McGraw-Hill, Inc. in Japan (now renamed Nikkei Business Publications), as a staff writer for Nikkei Biotech, the first Japanese newsletter specializing in biotechnology. She accumulated her biotechnology industry career through working in Genzyme Japan, Ltd., and Genentech, Ltd., a Japanese Branch of Genentech, Inc. in the U.S.
Ms. Oishi joined CMIC in 1996, as Manager of the Strategy Development Department. Over the past 20 years, she has been responsible for International Business and Corporate Development, covering Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan and other regions in Asia Pacific, as well as for International Business Development which function could bring in foreign pharma and biotech companies that are interested in drug development in Japan and Asia, to start their regulatory and clinical activities in the region. With her broad international experience and strong leadership, she continuously leads the company to further globalization.
Elton Satusky is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Elton represents both public and private enterprises as their outside general counsel and serves as a key strategic advisor from their inception throughout their life cycle. He advises on complex venture capital and corporate finance transactions, corporate law and governance, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings.
Satoshi Ogawa, Ph.D., is a partner at TMI Associates, specializing in life sciences and healthcare. After earning his Ph.D. in Life Sciences from Kyoto University, he joined TMI Associates as an attorney. Following a three-year secondment at a law firm in New Delhi, India, he has been based at TMI’s Kyoto office since 2019.
He received the B.S. degree, the M.S. degree in information and communication engineering, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering, all from the University of Tokyo, in 1998, 2000, and 2003, respectively. From Apr. 2003 to Jun. 2006, he was an assistant professor at Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka University. He became a lecturer at Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Osaka University Dental Hospital in Jul. 2006.
Steve Pollock assumed the position of President of Japan Society of Northern California on August 23, 2022. Previously a JSNC Board member, Mr. Pollock has been actively involved with a number of the Society’s signature initiatives, including starting JSNC’s operations in Japan in 2016, leading the corporate membership committee, and serving on the steering committee for the annual Innovation Awards.
Seth Flaum is a partner in the New York office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a member of the technology transactions practice. With more than 25 years of broad transactional experience, he represents life sciences companies in a wide range of strategic transactions and corporate matters.
Joe is General Counsel of Triple Ring Technologies where he is responsible for legal affairs and intellectual property. He has over 30 years experience in Silicon Valley involving intellectual property and monetization. He has worked on patent preparation and prosecution, licensing, intellectual property litigation, purchase and sale of patents, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, spin-outs, joint ventures and insolvency proceedings involving intellectual property.
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