Norio Nakatsuji's Biography

Norio Nakatsuji, Chief Advisor, Stem Cell & Device Laboratory, Inc. (SCAD); Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University

Prof. Norio Nakatsuji is Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University and Founding Director of its Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences. He is also Chief Advisor of Stem Cell & Device Laboratory, Inc. and CEO of Kyoto Stem Cell Innovation, Inc.

Prof. Nakatsuji is a graduate from Kyoto University. He obtained postdoctoral training in Sweden, USA and UK. He became a professor at National Institute of Genetics in 1991. In 1999, He moved to the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University and became its director from 2003 to 2007. His laboratory established monkey ES cell lines in 2000 and human ES cell lines in 2003, which were distributed to other scientists. He is also a scientific founder of a start-up company, ReproCELL, Inc., which accomplished successful IPO in 2013

From 2007, he was the founding director of Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), an institute which aims to advance cross-disciplinary research and technological innovation, including stem cell R&D utilizing chemical compounds and functional materials. He became a Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University in 2015. He took a leadership in government-supported stem cell projects of industry-academia collaboration.

In 2014, he founded two start-up companies, Kyoto Stem Cell Innovation, Inc. (SCI) and Stem Cell & Device Laboratory, Inc. (SCAD). He is a Director and Chief Advisor of SCAD, which is developing innovative products by integration of human pluripotent stem cell (ESC/iPSC) technology and nanotechnology/micro-engineering for drug screening and drug safety assay as well as cell therapy.