Dr. Kodama joined Suntory Holdings Limited after graduating (1998) and completed master’s degree (2000) at Kyushu University Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He obtained a Ph.D. (Pharmaceutical Sciences) from Kyushu University in 2004. After predoctoral at RIKEN and postdoctoral training at several university, he contributed the industry-academic joint research at Hokkaido University as an associate professor and project manager (2010-2016). He has been appointed for an associate professor, Graduate School of Technology Management (MOT), Ritsumeikan University, since 2016 to present. He has been engaged in a variety of academic, business and projects management, especially in the field of life sciences. His areas of specialization are technology management, entrepreneurship, business development and bioinformatics. Recently, he is selected as Fellow of Fondation France-Japon de l’EHESS.

Prof. Dr. Shintaro Sengoku is Professor and Principal Investigator of School of Environment and Society, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Visiting Professor of the Institute for Future Initiatives, the University of Tokyo. He has professional experience in advisory services at McKinsey&Company and Fast Track Initiative, Inc., a venture capital focusing on the bio/health technology industry; research and education experience in the field of management of technology and innovation research at Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the University of Tokyo, International Collaborative Center, Kyoto University and Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS), Kyoto University.