横浜・LINK-J ライフサイエンスラウンジ ＠NYCミートアップ2026 ～日米ライフサイエンスエコシステムの連携促進に向けて～

Zehra Ansari
Senior Project Manager of Life Sciences and Healthcare, New York City Economic Development Corporation

Zehra Ansari is a Senior Project Manager of Life Sciences and Healthcare at NYCEDC, where she leads origination, diligence, and structuring for New York City's early-stage life sciences investment fund, spanning women's health innovation, synthetic biology, computational biology, and advanced manufacturing. Earlier, she led corporate affairs at a biotechnology company through FDA approval and a $32M financing, and advised decision-makers at the United Nations and the White House.

Keiji Asada, PhD
CEO/President at Amenichi Consulting, LLC

Keiji Asada is a regulatory consultant and biotechnology entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the CRO industry and FDA regulatory affairs. He is the Founder and CEO of Amenichi Consulting, LLC, advising pharmaceutical and medical device companies, with a particular focus on supporting Japanese companies entering the U.S. market.
In addition to his consulting work, Keiji is a co-founder of Progenicyte Therapeutics, Inc. and Insanity Labs, working on neurological disease solutions and AI-driven digital health technologies.
He has supported over 60 companies and contributed to more than 35 FDA regulatory approvals. His experience spans regulatory strategy, market entry, M&A due diligence, and commercialization, supporting successful cross-border partnerships and business development.
Fluent in Japanese and experienced in working with Japanese companies, he brings both regulatory expertise and cultural understanding to U.S.–Japan collaborations.
He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University and is a certified ISO 13485 and MDSAP Lead Auditor.

Kenichiro(Nobu) Kuninobu
Co-founder and CEO of FELIQS

Kenichiro(Nobu) Kuninobu is the Co-founder and CEO of FELIQS, a cross-border, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on neonatal drug development, with headquarters in Fukuoka, Japan and Bellevue, WA. The company has secured $12M in funding and is currently conducting the Phase 1b study in the United States for the prevention of retinopathy of prematurity, a leading cause of pediatric blindness.
Nobu began his career at Nipro Corporation as a CMC scientist, building a strong foundation in pharmaceutical development. Over the course of his career, he has accumulated diverse leadership experience: co-development with Sandoz, the establishment of Nipro’s first international pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Vietnam, government affairs initiatives in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan, business development activities including partnerships with Daiichi-Sankyo, and co-development of a regenerative advanced therapy program with Yale University.
Nobu holds a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Kyushu University and a Ph.D. in Medical Science from Nagasaki University. He has also served as a committee member of the Fukuoka Bio-community, one of Japan’s largest regional biotech clusters.

Koji Yasuda
Principal at Fast Track Initiative, Inc.

Koji Yasuda is a Principal at Fast Track Initiative (FTI), a Japan- and Boston-based life science venture capital firm focused on company creation and early-stage biotech investment. Koji works closely with company builders and academic founders across therapeutics and platform technologies, supporting company formation, financing, clinical strategy, and global partnering efforts between Japan and the U.S.
Koji is actively involved in portfolio company building and currently serves in board or observer roles for companies including Shinobi Therapeutics,  RegCell,  Sonire Therapeutics, and Storm Therapeutics. His work focuses on helping translate globally competitive science and technologies originating from Japan into internationally scalable biotech companies.
Prior to joining FTI, Koji held roles at Pfizer and Takeda in early clinical development and biomarker strategy, and was an early team member at Kintai Therapeutics, a Flagship Pioneering-founded precision-medicine company. He received his DVM from Cornell University and his PhD from Harvard University.

Seth Flaum
Partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC

Seth Flaum is a partner in the New York office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he is a member of the technology transactions practice. With more than 25 years of broad transactional experience, he represents life sciences companies in a wide range of strategic transactions and corporate matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Seth was the executive associate general counsel for Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company based in Japan, where he trained and managed a team of lawyers and business professionals responsible for implementing the company's global business development transactions. In this role, Seth counseled on strategic transactions, structuring, negotiating, and drafting strategic collaboration agreements, licensing agreements, research and development agreements, co-promotion agreements, commercialization agreements, option agreements, material transfer agreements, clinical trial agreements, CRO agreements, distribution agreements, manufacturing and supply agreements, and other transactions. He also has experience with public and private M&A transactions, and has advised on antitrust issues and filings, FINRA inquiries, SEC filings, and corporate governance matters.
Before joining Daiichi Sankyo, Seth was a senior associate at Ullman, Shapiro & Ullman, LLP in New York. Previously, he was general counsel at H&H Bagels, corporate counsel at Thompson Medical Company and Slim Fast Foods Company, and an associate at D'Erasmo, Shure & Perez in Rockville, Maryland.

Norikazu Eiki
President, EIKI CONSULTING, LLC; Founder and Member of the Board, Japanese Foundation for Rare Disease Research (JFRDR)

Mr. Eiki began his career at Ciba-Geigy Japan in 1979 and later joined Bayer Yakuhin in 1994. He served as Director and Plant Manager of Shiga Plant, and subsequently as President (2002–2006) and Chairman (2007–2014) of Bayer Yakuhin. During his tenure, he also held key positions in major industry organizations, including the Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and ISPE. After retiring from Bayer in 2014, he relocated to New Jersey and continues to work as a consultant in the U.S.

Akio Uemura, PhD
Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs and Development, Crecon Research & Consulting, Inc.

Over 45 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in Japan and the United States, primarily engaged in research and development. Worked at Mochida Pharmaceutical, Eli Lilly, and Allergan, covering a broad range of areas including discovery science, clinical development, regulatory affairs, and project management, and held senior management positions overseeing entire R&D organizations. During this time, also completed an overseas assignment in the United States and was involved in the development and operation of global R&D frameworks. Led regulatory functions including PMDA consultations, clinical trial notifications, NDA submissions, and product approvals, while also contributing to the development of regulatory policy through industry activities. Built strong relationships with key regulatory authorities, clinical investigators, and industry stakeholders. Currently supports the R&D activities of Japanese and international pharmaceutical companies as an independent consultant.

Scott Xiao
Co-Founder and CEO, Luminopia

Scott Xiao is the Co-Founder and CEO of Luminopia, a medtech company he started in 2015 while studying at Harvard University. Working at the intersection of ophthalmology and neuroscience, Scott led Luminopia to develop the first FDA-cleared VR-based treatment for any medical condition — a therapy for amblyopia ("lazy eye") in children that replaces eye-patching by letting kids watch modified versions of their favorite TV shows in a VR headset. The treatment has been prescribed to more than 14,000 patients by over 1,500 providers across the U.S., and Scott has been recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30, MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35, and Modern Healthcare's 40 Under 40.