President and CEO

Masayo Takahashi MD, PhD

Affiliations:

• Councilor, Japan Ophthalmological Society
• Executive Director, Japan Society for Regenerative Medicine
• Executive Director, Japan Retina and Vitreous Society
• Director, Japan Retinitis Pigmentosa Society
• Director, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation NEXT VISION
• Fellow, Ritsumeikan Advanced Research Academy (RARA), Ritsumeikan University
• Senior Adviser, Research Center, Kobe City Eye Hospital Membership in International Organizations
• The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
• Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI)
• International Member, National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
• Associate Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

Masayo Takahashi is an ophthalmologist who completed her doctoral program (Visual Pathology) at the Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University. She served as the leader of the Laboratory for Retinal Regeneration, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research from 2006 to 2022, conducting groundbreaking clinical research using the world’s first induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in 2014. In 2017, she collaborated with the city of Kobe to establish the “Kobe Eye Center.” After leaving RIKEN in 2019, she became the CEO of Vision Care Inc. and subsequently founded two subsidiary companies dedicated to gene therapy development and cell therapy research.

Director and CTO

Seiji Hori PhD

Seiji Hori graduated from the Graduate School of Science at Kyoto University. He worked as a researcher at Maruha Corp., Novartis, and Osaka Bioscience Institute, and then became a lecturer in graduate school of biostudies of Kyoto University. Since 2014, he has been involved in regenerative medicine and drug discovery business consulting at iPS Portal,Inc. He also holds the position of Team Leader for Cell and Gene Therapy in Ophthalmology Laboratory, RIKEN Baton Zone Program, advancing research and development in Regenerative Medicine within the Vision Care Group. Additionally, he serves as a visiting professor at Hiroshima University and an adjunct lecturer (Biomedical Engineering and Regenerative medical science) at Kyoto Sangyo University.

Director and COO

Tomoki Otani PhD

Tomoki Otani graduated from the University of Cambridge. He worked as a researcher at the University of Cambridge’s Gurdon Institute and later served as an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company. At VCCT, he leads R&D and business strategy functions, while overseeing corporate transformation projects.

Director and CFO

Takuma Fukuda

After graduating from the Faculty of Education at Waseda University, Takuma Fukuda worked at Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. before establishing his own startup BuzzBox Inc. that offered tailored recruitment support services. Since its buy-out, he has focused on investment and business development in the healthcare and human resources sectors. Leveraging his diverse experiences, he is actively involved in the management of VCCT Inc. as a founding member.

Auditor

Takaaki Oe

Takaaki Oe is a certified public tax accountant who Established the Oe Accounting Firm in 1998. In 2000, he established Kyoto Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and became its representative director, and in 2007, he established Kyoto Management Tax Corporation and became its representative partner.