LINK-J＠UCSD～サンディエゴからスタートアップエコシステムを考える～

Dennis Abremski, Executive Director of the UC San Diego Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE)

Dennis Abremski is the Executive Director of the UC San Diego Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE). The Institute is a collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and Rady School of Management, dedicated to training global technology leaders and translating university discoveries to market.

Abremski came to UC San Diego most recently from SoCal EED, a non-profit focused on advancing early stage biomedical and personal health-related companies, where he was the Vice President. A founder and startup veteran, Abremski earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and has built a career by balancing his business and technology expertise. He has held executive positions in technology, international sales, business development, and operations, primarily in the wireless communications and electronics devices industries.

Abremski works closely with the faculty and leadership from both the Jacobs School and Rady School to continue the development of leadership and entrepreneurial education and training programs, in collaboration with other campus entrepreneurial programs, to prepare students to become change makers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who drive innovation.

Miwako Waga, Senior Director, International Innovation Outreachof UCSD

Miwako Waga is the Senior Director of International Innovation Outreach at UC San Diego Office of Research and Innovation. She develops strategies for outreach and fundraising by identifying prospective international partners for UC San Diego research activities and academic programs. She manages international collaborations through technology exchanges between the academic and international industry communities.

Prior to joining UC San Diego in 2014, Ms. Waga worked as technology analyst and director at several institutes and companies focusing on emerging technologies. She wrote articles, made presentations and gave lectures in the U.S. and abroad, on topics such as emerging technology and market trends, technology management, and university-industry collaboration. For over 10 years, she served as a liaison between Japanese government and industry and the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center at UC Berkeley.

Ms. Waga supervised the Japanese translation of the 4th Edition of Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation by Robert A. Burgelman, Steven C. Wheelwright, and Clayton M. Christensen (McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2003). The Japanese edition was published by Shoeisha of Japan in 2007.

She has a BA in International Relations from Tsuda College in Japan, an MSc in Science & Technology Policy from University of Sussex Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) in United Kingdom.

Ikuo Hayashi, General Manager of LINK-J

After working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tokyo, he engaged in drug discovery research in the field of neurological diseases (e.g., Target ID/validation, development of in vitro assay systems) as a researcher at Merck Research Laboratories, USA and Toray Pharmaceutical Research Laboratories, Inc. in Japan. After working as COO at Hamamatsu Pharma Research USA, Inc. in San Diego, U.S., he joined Open Innovation Center at Bayer Japan in May 2020 and was involved in programs such as the startup support program Kansai Life Science Accelerator Program and a shared lab/office space, CoLaborator Kobe.

Since May 2023, he has been involved in fostering the life science innovation ecosystem and promoting overseas collaboration as Executive Life Science Strategist at Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. and General Manager at LINK-J.
PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Tokyo, R.Ph., and MBA from University of California, San Diego.