Co-President & Managing Director, Phic Executive Director, Institut Pasteur du Japon Head of Ecology and Emergence of Arthropod-Borne Pathogens, Institut Pasteur

As a medical doctor, Anavaj worked for ten years in clinical medicine before embarking on a career in basic research. After attaining a PhD in human molecular genetics at Oxford University, he joined the Institut Pasteur in 2000 to develop a program on the human genetics of infectious diseases focusing on arthropod-borne infections including malaria, dengue and Zika.

He coordinated a research network on dengue for the Pasteur Network and is a coordinator of a European FP7 project "Dengue Framework for Resisting Epidemics in Europe" (DENFREE).

He is now a Program Director of Pasteur International Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (PICREID) as well as a representative and executive director of Fondation Pasteur Japon.

Co-President & Managing Director, PHIC Professor at Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo Special Assistant to the President(Financial Strategy, Social Cooperation & Academia-Industry Collaboration)

After graduating from the University of Tokyo (Agricultural and Life Sciences) with a PhD, Kiyohiko became Assistant Professor from 2009 and became Professor from 2021. Since 2016, he has also served as Visiting Professor at the Finnish Research Centre for Technology (VTT).

Kiyohiko is the leading researcher on the production of energy and materials from trees and grasses. He has revolutionised biomass conversion research, for example, increasing the efficiency of biomass conversion by eliminating enzyme 'traffic congestion’.

Kiyohiko is in charge of and leading numerous industry-academia partnerships for the University of Tokyo

Managing Director, PHIC, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Exa Innovation Studio Board member of Le Comité d’Echange Franco-Japonais

After graduating from the University of Tokyo (Law), Kentaro joined The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, Japan, where he was responsible in drafting laws and regulations for transport & environmental matters.

Upon obtaining LLM and MBA in Cambridge University, he joined The Boston Consulting Group (Tokyo & Paris) and conducted various strategic & consulting projects in innovation, technology and financial sectors.

Kentaro co-founded Exa Innovation Studio in 2010, based in Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Nairobi and have been engaged in numerous cross-border projects in the areas of innovation search, new business development, investment in startups and due-diligence for M&A deals.

PR Director

After graduating from Keio University, he joined NTT, where he was involved in corporate planning, accounting, general affairs, human resources, and secretarial work.

He transferred to NTT Docomo, where he was in charge of M&A, mainly in Europe, and after earning an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, he led the overseas development of mobile Internet services (i-mode), the launch of the NTT Group's CVC, start-up investments, and the planning of healthcare and corporate services. He has also been engaged in management of subsidiaries and start-up support.