Management & Founders
Christopher J. Savoie, M.D., Ph.D.--Chairman & CEO
Dr. Savoie is a world recognized technology luminary who was named by MIT's Technology Review Magazine as one of the original TR100, a list of top technology innovators to watch in the 21st century. He previously established one of the fist web design companies in Japan and went on to found Dejima, a Silicon Valley based software company. During his tenure as Chairman and CEO, Dejima grew to become a global telecommunications software company with offices and Fortune 500 customers in the US, Japan and Europe. A published scholar in immunology, cancer proteomics and structural biology, Dr. Savoie received his B.A. in Biology from the University of Rhode Island and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Kyushu University.
Kanichiro "Ken" Suzuki, M.B.A., Chief Financial Officer
Ken Suzuki is a recognized expert in technology venture management, investment strategy, and organizational change. He has held various positions in investment and executive management at Nomura Research Institute and Nomura Securities. Ken has been a visiting scholar at Hoover Institution in Stanford University, has held several board positions in U.S. and Japanese high tech corporations and has consulted for large corporations and national government agencies (e.g. MITI). His educational qualifications include a B.A. in Economics from Waseda University in Japan and an M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Carol Cherkis, Ph.D., Vice President of Business Development
Carol Cherkis has over 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry, spanning roles in licensing, business development, corporate venturing, and R&D. She was formerly the Director of Healthcare at Frost & Sullivan and earlier on the Biotechnology Program Director in the Corporate Ventures Group at The Dow Chemical Company. Dr. Cherkis received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan Medical School and her A.B. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College.
Arie Avnur, Chief Information Officer
Arie Avnur has over 25 years experience in diverse software areas including AI, CASE, real-time control systems, wireless networking, bioinformatics, databases and web applications. Arie was formerly Director of Software Operations at Applied Materials. He was V.P. Engineering with OpenGrid, Inc. and Director of Software at Netro Corporation. He holds a BSEE degree from the Technion, and has completed additional graduate courses in Computer Science at the Weitzmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Prof. Satoru Kuhara, Ph.D., Co-founder Dr. Kuhara is a world-renowned pioneer in the field gene networks and expression regulation. He has led the DNA sequencing genome projects for several important pathogenic bacteria and microorganisms related to human disease including Clostridium and pathogenic E-coli 0157. He is currently Professor of Genetic Techniques at the Graduate School of Genetic Resources Technology at Kyushu University, a founding member of the Japanese Society for Computational Biology, and Vice Chairman of the Kyushu Bioscience Industry Committee. Dr. Kuhara received his Doctor of Science from Kyushu University's Faculty of Agriculture.
Prof. Satoru Miyano, Ph.D., Co-founder Dr. Miyano is Professor of the Human Genome Center and Vice Dean of the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo and one of the world's leading researchers in genomics and computational biology. He has been recognized internationally for his achievements in his field and received the IBM Science Award and the Sakai Award of the Information Processing Society of Japan for his achievements in Information Science. Dr. Miyano received his B.S., M.S. and Doctor of Science in Mathematics from Kyushu University.
Prof. Steven Smith, M.D., Ph.D., Co-founder
Dr. Smith is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Head of Department, University of Cambridge Clinical School as well as Director of the Rosie Hospital at Cambridge. He is a world-renowned clinical and scientific researcher in human endothelial biology, a member of the NIH Scientific Review Committee, and a scientific co-founder of Metris Pharmaceuticals, a successful early stage women’s health firm in the UK. Dr. Smith received his B.S., M.A., M.D., and Doctor of Science from King's College.
Dr. Steve Charnock-Jones, Ph.D., Co-founder
Dr. Charnock-Jones is a recognized expert in human endothelial cell biology and is currently University Lecturer, University of Cambridge Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Cambridge. He received his B.Sc. in Microbiology from the University of London and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research at the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Cristin Print, M.D., Ph.D., Co-founder
Dr. Print is a Fellow, St Edmund’s College, Cambridge and University Lecturer at the Department of Pathology, Cambridge University. An expert in the area of pathology and apoptosis mechanisms related to human endothelial biology as well as microarray, model systems and animal model methods of gene function analysis and validation of endothelial biology. Dr. Print obtained in BHB and MB ChB as well as his PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Auckland.
Dr. Kosuke Tashiro, Ph.D., Co-founder
Dr. Tashiro is an Assistant Professor, Department of Genetic Technology at Kyushu University and the Developer of Mirai Bio arrays, the Hitachi Printer, and Fuji Film Scanner. He received both his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Kyushu University.
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