President, CEO

Chiaki Waki

Chiaki Waki joined CoreTissue BioEngineering　as director of corporate planning in September 2021. She was appointed as President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in June 2022.　

Before joining CoreTissue BioEngineering, she held various positions with increasing responsibilities at Abbott and Boston Scientific, including Marketing Director, Senior Manager of Medical Science, Market Development. She also worked at Becton Dickinson as product manager.

She received MBA from Waseda Business School (WBS).

Board Chairman

Yoji Jokura, Ph.D.

Yoji Jokura joined CoreTissue BioEngineering as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in November 2018. He was appointed as board chairman in June 2022.

Prior to joining CoreTissue BioEngineering, he oversaw clinical science and regulatory affairs at Cook Medical and Boston Scientific for total 14 years. There, he has established his network with MHLW, PMDA, and academic societies. Earlier in his career, he worked at Kao Corporation as R&D of dermatological area in Japan, consumer product management in the United States and Switzerland.

He received Ph.D. from joint graduate school of Tokyo Women's Medical University and Waseda University (TWIns) in biomedical sciences.

Independent Board Director

Tadashi Takiguchi, Ph.D.

Tadashi Takiguchi has been independent board director of CoreTissue BioEngineering since November 2016, establishment of the company.
He is also the president and representative director of Weru Investment since December 2005. He has supported number of start-up companies since then. He started his career at Nomura Securities in 1986.

He received MOT/MBA and Ph.D. in International Business Management from Waseda University. He is also visiting professor of Waseda Business School (WBS). Currently, he is a member of the Investment Committee of RIKEN and a director of The Japan Venture Society.

Auditor

Toshio Koike

Toshio Koike was appointed as external audit and Supervisory Board Member of CoreTissue BioEngineering in April 2022.
He worked as the director of internal audit of Solomon Brothers Tokyo Branch, he oversaw trading and internal audit of investment banking business. He was a partner of Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC (risk management and corporate governance) since 2000. He provides accounting and financial advisory services at his own firm Koike Certified Accountant Office since 2010.

He graduated from University of Tokyo, Economics. He is qualified as certified accountant, tax accountant, and certified financial analyst(CFA).

Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor

Kiyotaka Iwasaki, Ph.D.

Kiyotaka Iwasaki is a founder and chief scientific advisor of CoreTissue BioEngineering. He has been a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Waseda University since 2014. He received Doctor of Engineering from Waseda University in 2002. After receiving Ph.D., he worked at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, as a research scientist from 2004 to 2006.
He won Science and Technology Award, by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Management Advisor

Koji Nakao, Ph.D.

Koji Nakao served as chairman of Terumo Corporation and chairman of the Japan Association of Medical Devices. Through nearly 15 years of working in the United States and Europe, he was involved in the development of medical devices and M&A deals. Currently, he is involved in university education in medical device innovation and consulting for medical device start-up companies.
He received Ph.D. from joint graduate school of Tokyo Women’s Medical University and Waseda University (TWIns) in biomedical sciences.