The 54th NSRI Forum
Building the World’s Most Creative Science Park in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture—
~The Challenge of Keio University’s Tsuruoka Campus~
Tsuruoka City in Yamagata Prefecture has become one of the world’s leading hubs for science ventures. At the heart of this hub is the Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences, established in 2001.Our guest today, Mr. Masaru Tomita, served as the institute’s first director, fostering innovative talent and spearheading the launch of startups with the goal of transforming Tsuruoka into the “Silicon Valley of biotechnology.” He aims to create a successful model in Tsuruoka for revitalizing regional areas through knowledge-based industries.He aims to transform Tsuruoka—a regional city rich in natural beauty—into a world-class center of academic and cultural excellence. We will hear about Mr. Tomita’s challenges in Tsuruoka.
Date and Time: Thursday, October 19, 2017, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Venue: NSRI Hall
(2nd Floor, Meiji Yasuda Life Iidabashi Building, 2-7-5 Iidabashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
Capacity: 100 people
Admission: Free
Please include “54th NSRI Forum” in the subject line and send your name, affiliation, and contact phone number
to the email address or fax number below.
toshikei@nikken.jp
03-5259-0180
*Registration will close once the first 100 registrants have been reached.
Masaru Tomita
Director, Institute for Advanced Life Sciences, Keio University / Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University
Born in Tokyo in 1957.
After graduating from Keio University's Faculty of Engineering, he studied abroad at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, completing both master's and doctoral programs in the Faculty of Computer Science. Afterwards, he served as assistant, associate professor, associate professor, and deputy director of the Institute for Machine Translation at Carnegie Mellon University.
Since 1990, he has served as associate professor, professor, and Director at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University (2005~2007). Currently, he is the director of the Institute for Advanced Life Sciences at Keio University.
Recipient of the U.S. National Science Foundation Presidential Encouragement Award (1988), IBM Japan Science Award (2002), Minister of Science and Technology Policy Award (2004), Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award (2007), International Society of Metabolomics Distinguished Service Award (2009), Fukuzawa Award (2009), University Venture Special Award (2014), Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher (2015), Audi Innovation Award (2016), and Lifetime Honorary Fellow of the International Metabolomic Society. Founded the Keio University venture company Human Metabolomic Technologies Co., Ltd., which was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market in 2013. Technical advisor for artificial spider silk "Spyber Inc." Technical advisor for Sarivatech Co., Ltd., who diagnoses cancer by saliva.
Science Eye (NHK), Bankisha (Nippon TV), NEWS23 (TBS),
He has served as a commentator for Asahi New Star (BS Asahi) and Nikkei Plus 10 (BSJAPAN).
Degrees obtained: Doctor of Medicine (Molecular Biology), Doctor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering), Ph.D. (Information Science)
