*Hybrid program

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Our Amazing Panelists

Hikaru Saito, Ph.D. | Partner, Saisei Ventures

As a partner of Saisei Ventures, Dr. Saito is responsible for Japan operations including company creation, integrating Japanese science and technology with the Western ecosystem. Prior to joining Saisei, he started career as a research scientist at Astellas Pharma Inc. and then as a Senior Manager of Business Development and as a Senior Investment Manager at Astellas Venture Management, a CVC arm based in Silicon Valley, USA, where he was a lead role for deal process, due diligence and transactions for venture investments in RNA therapeutics, cell and gene therapy. He was providing business support to portfolio companies based on the expertise, experience, and global network. Prior to joining Astellas, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, and a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He received his B.S. in Biotechnology and M.S. and Ph.D. in Biomolecular Molecular Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology.

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Dr. Peymon Ghazi | Co-founder & CEO, Malcova

Dr. Peymon Ghazi is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Malcova, where he has guided three radiological-health technologies from concept to clinical trials. He now leads the company’s push to commercialize novel imaging solutions for breast-cancer detection and ischemic-stroke diagnosis.
Before launching Malcova, Dr. Ghazi held positions as a scientist, engineer, and manager in the radiological-device industry. He earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and completed a Business Development Fellowship, both at the University of California, Davis, where he currently serves on the College of Engineering advisory board.

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Tomoko Ishikura | Managing Partner, Kicker Ventures

Tomoko is a Managing Partner at Kicker Ventures with extensive experience across various sectors of healthcare in diverse countries and business cultures. Before founding Kicker, she served as a Business Development Advisor to Nipro and worked at Axios International in France, UNICEF in Rwanda, and PwC’s PRTM and Aqumen Biopharmaceutical in Japan. A trained pharmacist and molecular biologist, she holds an MBA from INSEAD and an MS from Kyushu University.

A strong advocate for women in venture, Tomoko is active in the U.S. female VC community, speaks at major global conferences, and mentors in leading accelerator programs—guiding the next generation of healthcare entrepreneurs and investors.

In addition to her role at Kicker, she teaches meditation classes in San Francisco and brings thoughtful, practical approaches back to her work, helping foster a valuable and authentic community in the healthcare industry.

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Kirk Zeller, DBA

Kirk Zeller is medical device industry veteran whose entire 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. He has co-founded and served on the boards of numerous companies as well as provided fractional leadership and been a long-time mentor of early-stage medical device companies. In 2023 three of the companies he mentored made it to MedTech Innovator Top 5 companies and the company he co-founded, Progressive NEURO, Inc was an official 2024 MedTech Innovator Cohort company. Kirk received an award from United States Congressman Adrian Smith and is on Congressional Record for his entrepreneurial endeavors during COVID.
Full Bio

Yuko Terasawa , Ph.D. | Co-Founder, Nozomi MedAlliance, K.K. & Co-Founder, J-Biosciences, K.K. & Principal Consultant, BiomedwoRx Life Science Consulting

20+ years of combined business development and drug discovery experience with an
extensive global network in biotech/pharma/medtech. She supports cross border business development and partnerships between US/global and Japanese organizations to grow valuable innovations in healthcare.
Yuko is skilled at seeing the value of bringing together technologies from different organizations to enable synergistic product development. She has established and managed over 20 strategic partnerships to accelerate development. She has experienced every stage of therapeutic development: research, lead discovery, preclinical, and clinical development. She has supported the growth of multiple startups as an advisor to emerging biotechs. She earned a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Nutritional Sciences and Molecular Biology, with a B.S. from UC Davis in Physiology.

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Yoshimasa Shimoto, Ph.D. | Partner, Consulting and Navigation Unit, CMIC

Yoshimasa Shimoto has provided strategic consulting and navigation to companies seeking to enter the Japanese pharmaceutical market. Prior to joining CMIC, he served as the Executive Vice President at Daiichi Sankyo RD Novare, overseeing the execution of clinical studies. At Daiichi Sankyo, he also had served as Vice President of Global Project Management and Asia Development, responsible for portfolio/project management of R&D and clinical study implementation in the Asian region, respectively. Dr. Shimoto received a PhD from the University of Tokyo and completed a research fellowship at the University of Michigan.

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