Events

2nd Annual JASGP Life Sciences Dialogue: Innovation and Breakthroughs

October 29th, 2025
4:00 – 7:30 PM
Thomas Jefferson University
Bluemle Life Sciences Bldg, 1F, Room 101
233 S 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Admission is Free but Registration is Required

Register Online

In partnership with Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson Japan Center and the City of Kobe, the JASGP is excited to announce the 2nd Annual Life Sciences Dialogue. Join us for the exploration of “Innovation & Breakthroughs,” presented as a Japan Currents program.

Speakers from Japan and the US will explore how Japanese life science and health tech innovations are entering the American market, with Philadelphia emerging as a key gateway - and the unique role of the Kobe-Philadelphia collaboration. From regenerative medicine to advanced robotics and generative AI, the speakers will share insights and lessons learned in navigating the opportunities and challenges of bringing breakthrough technologies from Japan to the world.

Co-Hosts / Partners

Japan Center, Thomas Jefferson University Sidney Kimmel Medical College

  • Background:
    For over 30 years, the Center, formed in partnership with the Japanese Association for the Development of Community Medicine (JADECOM), and the Noguchi Medical Research Institute (NMRI), has hosted hundreds of health professionals from Japan (physicians, medical students, and nurses) for short-term and long-term training; research & development exchanges.
  • Special Recent Development:
    In June 2025, Thomas Jefferson University and Kobe University formalized a partnership agreement to enhance academic exchange and collaborative research in medicine, biomedical engineering, and medical device development. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in strengthening the bond between Kobe and Philadelphia, two cities with a longstanding sister city relationship spanning nearly four decades.

City of Kobe: Kobe Biotech Innovation Cluster (KBIC)

  • Background:
    The cities of Kobe and Philadelphia will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their sister city relationship in 2026.
  • City of Kobe’s arm:
    KBIC is called the “Gateway to Japan’s Largest Biocluster Innovation Community” – including about 350 research institutions, hospitals, universities, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and other corporations.

PROGRAM

Doors Open at 4:00 PM 4:10 - 4:20: Opening Remarks
  • JASGP: Nan Sato, JASGP Board Member and Chair of the Corporate & Public Policy Committee; Co-Chair International Committee and Managing Partner, Tokyo Office, Fisher Phillips
  • Andy Wylegala, NAJAS President, Japan Currents/Embassy of Japan
  • David Briel, Deputy Secretary of International Business Development at Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
  • TJU Sidney Kimmel Medical College: Dr. Said Ibrahim, Dean
  • City of Kobe/KBIC: Atsunobu Kasagi, Director, Innovation Specialist
4:20 - 5:45: Presentations
    • Moderator: Masashi Kiyomine, Founder & Managing Partner, Kicker Ventures
      • Overview, Introduction of Speakers
    •  Terry Chang, VP, Medicaroid (Hinotori surgical robot)
      • Expanding Access for Robotic Surgery
    •  Tsutomu (Tom) Hoshiba, President, Kievit Scientific
      • Positioning Philadelphia as a Strategic Gateway for Japanese Life Sciences Startups
    • Kota Kubo, CEO, Ubie
      • Breaking Barriers in US Healthcare: The Journey of Japan's Top AI Startup
    • Dr. Masayo Takahashi, President, Vision Care Inc; Kobe City Eye Hospital
      • Toward Global Implementation of iPSC-RPE Cell Therapy
6:15 - 6:45: Panel Discussion and Startup Pitch by 5 Japanese Life Sciences Startups
  • Moderator: Masashi Kiyomine, Kicker Ventures
6:45 - 6:50: Closing Remarks
  • Dr. Charles Pohl, Executive Director of the Jefferson Japan Center, and Senior Vice Provost of Student Affairs
6:50 - 7:30: Networking and Reception The reception will include both soft and alcoholic beverages, as well as light snacks.

Admission is Free but Registration is Required.

Register Online

Venue

Thomas Jefferson University
Bluemle Life Sciences Bldg, 1F
233 S 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Get Directions >

Please note that street parking is limited. 

10th & Chestnut Streets Garage (Self and Valet Park) 10th & Chestnut Streets Open: 7 days, 24 hours

Philadelphia Parking Authority Garage (Self Park) 10th & Ludlow Streets Open: 7 days, 6:00 AM to 11:30 PM

Walnut Towers Garage (Self Park) 9th Street between Walnut & Locust Streets Open: Monday-Friday 6:00 AM to 2:00 AM Saturday 6:00 AM to 2:00 AM

Parkway Garage (Self Park) 12th & Walnut Streets Open: 7 days, 24 hours

Hamilton Garage (Self Park) 11th Street between Locust and Walnut Streets on the right hand side. Open: 7 days, 24 hours

SPEAKERS

Masashi Kiyomine – Moderator

Masashi Kiyomine, Founder & Managing Partner, Kicker Ventures

Masashi is the Founder & Managing Partner at Kicker Ventures and a veteran healthcare venture capitalist. With more than 18 years of early stage investments in Digital Health, Medical Devices, Biopharma and Healthcare Services covering the US, EU, Israel and Asia, Masashi brings a strategic vision to Kicker grounded in breadth of experience and knowledge of this field.

Prior to founding Kicker Ventures, Masashi spent 13 years at Mitsui Global Investment and served as the Head of Global Life Sciences Venture Investment. Masashi has an appointment as a Specially Appointed Professor (Visitor) at Tohoku University and advises several healthcare and innovation programs, including Innohub by METI and AMDAP by Tokyo. Masashi is a columnist at Nikkei Beyond Health and holds a dual BA in Engineering and Asian Studies from Dartmouth College.

An avid beer enthusiast, Masashi is a co-owner of Wursthall, a California take on the German Beerhall in San Mateo.

Masashi has served as board member and/or observer of more than a dozen healthcare companies, and currently serves as a board observer for Swing Therapeutics and CareX.ai.

Visit Kicker Ventures Website

Terry Chang

Terry Chang, Vice President, Medicaroid

Terry’s career passion for over 20 years has been helping healthcare providers to advance patient care through innovative medical devices. He currently serves as a VP at Medicaroid, a joint venture medical robotics company leveraging Kawasaki’s 50+ years of industrial robotics experience and Sysmex’s 50+ years of medical diagnostics to benefit healthcare.

Prior to Medicaroid, Terry served as Director of Marketing for the CyberKnife ® robotic radiosurgery system at Accuray, a developer of image-guided radiation therapy systems. Prior to Accuray, he served in various product management roles in the cardiology and diagnostic imaging fields at both early-stage and mature companies. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with an emphasis in bioengineering from Georgia Tech and his MBA in Marketing from Emory University. He currently resides in San Jose, CA.

About Medicaroid

Medicaroid's mission is to develop medical robotic solutions that will help everyone live healthier, more peaceful lives.  Medicaroid Corporation was established in Kobe city, Hyogo prefecture in 2013 as a joint investment between Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., and Sysmex Corporation, with one mission, to support a society where everyone including patients, their families, and medical professionals can live peacefully through our medical robots.

Learn more about the Hinotori Robotic assisted surgery system for laparoscopic surgery.

Visit Medicaroid Website

Expanding Access for Robotic Surgery

Despite over three decades of advancements in soft-tissue robotic-assisted surgery, widespread global adoption continues to lag the potential market. Key barriers to greater accessibility have included system affordability and limited innovations in kinematics, ergonomics, and visualization.

Established in 2016 in Kobe, Japan, Medicaroid (a blending of the words “Medical” and “Android”) is a joint venture between Sysmex, a leader in medical diagnostics, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a pioneer in robotics. The company's mission is to collaborate with hospitals, universities, industry, and government to develop advanced medical robotics. Medicaroid aims to expand the availability of robotic-assisted surgery and enhance patient outcomes for a healthier, more peaceful society.

This presentation will introduce Medicaroid and its hinotori™ Surgical Robot System, exploring how its clinical and technological advancements can serve as a foundation for future collaboration between the cities of Kobe and Philadelphia.

 

Tsutomu (Tom) Hoshiba

Tsutomu (Tom) Hoshiba, President, Kievit Scientific

Tom specializes in the successful expansion of overseas business for Japanese companies. His career in the life science industry spans more than 30 years on three continents and includes stints in major cities throughout Japan, Europe, and the United States. As President of Kievit Scientific, Tom’s expertise includes corporate management, sales, marketing, purchasing, accounting, logistics, and general affairs. He is a dynamic and energetic partner in taking businesses from the domestic market to the global stage. Tom and his team will help guide your company with a tailored plan for international success.

About Kievit Scientific

  • Provides support for companies seeking to set up and/or expand globally through its services for: Marketing life sciences products and services to a broad audience on strategies designed for the company’s unique needs.
  • Partner & Alliance Matching: Building relationships is paramount to a successful project. Kievit Scientific makes full use of its network to find the best partners to ensure success internationally.
  • International Expansion: Provides all support necessary to establish your international office, including corporate registration, administration, accounting and human resources.

Visit Kievit Scientific Website

Positioning Philadelphia as a Strategic Gateway for Japanese Life Sciences Startup

Dr. Hoshiba will explain why Philadelphia stands out as an ideal launchpad for Japanese startups—citing its thriving life sciences ecosystem, concentration of world-class hospitals and universities, affordability, and collaborative culture. He will also share insights on what drives Japanese startup success in the U.S., emphasizing the importance of strong local networks. He will also touch on emerging Kobe–Philadelphia initiatives through the new partnership between Kobe University and Thomas Jefferson University. Such collaborative frameworks to support future innovation and exchanges.

Kota Kubo

Kota Kubo, Co-Founder & CEO, Ubie Inc.

Kota Kubo graduated from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Engineering. In 2013, while still a student, he began developing a disease prediction algorithm. He later worked at M3 Corporation as a marketing engineer in consumer healthcare. In 2017, he co-founded Ubie with Dr. Abe. Since 2024, he has led Ubie’s U.S. expansion from New York, building long-term partnerships with health systems and pharmaceutical companies to improve access and outcomes through AI.

About Ubie Inc.

Our vision is to create a world where good health is easily accessible to everyone as air. We believe technology can transform healthcare from curing diseases to preventing illnesses. Our mission is to develop a healthcare guide for everyone. Today, Ubie serves over 10 million monthly active users worldwide, is implemented at more than 1,900 medical institutions, and collaborates with leading pharmaceutical companies to enhance patient education, access, and outcomes.

Visit Ubie Inc. Website

Breaking Barriers in US Healthcare: The Journey of Japan's Top AI Startup

Kota Kubo will share Ubie’s journey expanding from Japan to the U.S., highlighting how AI-driven care navigation improves access and efficiency for both patients and providers. He will outline challenges in U.S. healthcare—cost, insurance dependence, and wait times—and explain how Ubie’s clinically validated AI bridges those gaps. He will also discuss lessons from Ubie’s U.S. expansion, emphasizing the need for founder presence, early entry, and direct customer engagement. Finally, he will spotlight Philadelphia’s growing role as a Japan–U.S. life sciences gateway, supported by its robust healthcare ecosystem and the new Kobe–Philadelphia collaboration between Kobe University and Thomas Jefferson University—illustrating how cross-regional partnerships can accelerate innovation and global validation.

Dr. Masayo Takahashi

Dr. Masayo Takahashi, President and Representative Director, Vision Care Inc

Masayo Takahashi is an ophthalmologist who completed her doctoral program (Opthamology) at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University. She served as the leader of the Laboratory for Retinal Regeneration, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research from 2006 to 2022, conducting groundbreaking clinical research using the world’s first induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in 2014. In 2017, she collaborated with the city of Kobe to establish the “Kobe Eye Center.” After leaving RIKEN in 2019, she became the CEO of Vision Care Inc. and subsequently founded two subsidiary companies dedicated to gene therapy development and cell therapy research.

About Vision Care, Inc.

The Vision Care Group was established by the pioneering team that achieved the world’s first clinical application of iPS cells. Our mission extends beyond the development of treatments for retinal diseases. We are driven by the ambitious concept of the Kobe Eye Center, an entity that unifies research, clinical practice, and patient care, with the goal of addressing all challenges faced by individuals with visual impairments.

Under the guiding principle, “Total solutions for every patient”, we dedicate our efforts towards the development of treatments for diseases of the outer retina, as well as offering services like low-vision care. We anticipate that the next decade will usher in an era where artificial intelligence profoundly reshapes healthcare, leading to transformative changes. In this environment, devices and healthcare systems themselves will become tools for improving patient lives and fostering their satisfaction.

Visit Vision Care Inc Website

About Kobe Eye Center

The Kobe Eye Center is a revolutionary facility that brings together a research center for regenerative medicine, a top-of-the line ophthalmic clinic, and an information hub for social innovation. We are the first of our kind in the world to offer these three services under one roof.

Visit Kobe City Eye Hospital Website

Toward Global Implementation of iPSC-RPE Cell Therapy

Dr. Takahashi will discuss how Vision Care Inc. is preparing to globalize stem cell therapy innovations developed since she conducted the world’s first clinical application of autologous iPSC-derived retinal pigment epithelium (iPSC-RPE) cells in 2014. She will review how transitioning to an allogeneic transplantation model led to technical advancements in enhanced disease classification, simplified surgical procedures, and automated cell manufacturing. Clinical studies conducted in Japan confirmed the safety of iPSC-RPE cells and reduced risk of surgery. New clinical trials will involve iPSC-RPE cells engineered to minimize immune rejection. Also, at the Kobe Eye Center, Dr. Takahashi is building the infrastructure to establish regenerative medicine as a standard treatment for comprehensive patient care. She is now engaged in starting joint clinical trials with U.S. researchers as a crucial step towards international validation and standardization of regenerative therapies.

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