Our Team

Ruairí Mac Síomóin Managing Director

A co-founder of Eolas Biosciences, Mr. Mac Síomóin received his M.Sc. from the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo and his B.Sc. from the Moyne Institute of Preventative Medicine at Trinity College, Ireland. His academic and industry research experience has been in the infectious disease and oncology areas.

Mr. Mac Síomóin worked for four years at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Tokyo, where he had a wide range of responsibilities related to the development of new bio-therapeutics, regulatory applications and in-licensing of therapeutic molecules. More recently he served as Corporate Business Development Manager at Amersham Biosciences Japan (now GE Healthcare), creating new businesses for the Japanese market via strategic alliances with overseas drug discovery technology companies. Mr. Mac Síomóin has been resident in Japan for over 30 years.

Sumiko Funato Director of Sales and Marketing

Ms. Funato has more than 23 years of sales and marketing experience in the biotechnology field, encompassing the pharma, government and academic spheres. Nine of these years were spent in positions of increasing responsibility at the Japanese branch of a leading U.S. company serving the life science research and clinical diagnostic markets. She received her degree in business management from the Institute of Management at Sanno University and in molecular biology from Tokyo Technical College.

Kirsty Anderson Scientific Director

Dr. Anderson is a U.K.-based senior Clinical Psychologist with significant experience in the area of neuropsychologcal disorders. She is a former Head of Psychological Services for the National Health Service (Scotland), and has contributed to a number of major policy papers. She currently holds honorary positions with both the University of Edinburgh and the National Health Service. Dr. Anderson received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Trinity College (University of Dublin) and B.A. from Cornell University, New York, U.S.A.

Glenna Burmer Scientific Adviser

Dr. Burmer is a highly distinguished medical pathologist with a particular interest in the application of molecular pathology to drug discovery. In 1995 she co-founded LifeSpan Biosciences (U.S.A.), a global leader in the molecular pathology field, and has served as its Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer since inception. Prior to this, Dr. Burmer was Director of New Pathogen Discovery at Pathogenesis Corporation (U.S.A.), directing a large team of scientists that discovered the association of HHV-6 with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Burmer has served as Assistant Professor of Pathology and Director of the DNA Probe Laboratory at the University of Washington. She earned her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington Medical School and completed her internship, residency, and post-doctoral work at the same University.

Chihiro Sasakawa Scientific Adviser

Dr. Sasakawa is a former professor of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Tokyo. He is an internationally-acclaimed expert in bacterial pathogenesis and infectious diseases and has authored over 200 scientific papers, articles and reviews. The scope of his scientific work has included the development of vaccines. He is a member of numerous advisory and editorial boards, including that of the prestigious Nature Review of Microbiology. Professor Sasakawa was previously a Forgaty NIH Fellow at the Washington University School of Medicine　(U.S.A.).

Michiei Oto Scientific Adviser

Dr. Oto is an expert on the application of biotechnology to medical diagnostics. He spent 8 years at Dinabot, an affiliated firm of Abbott laboratories, developing diagnostics for small molecule metabolites and proteins, as well as nucleic acid-based assays for microbial pathogens. A number of these have gone on to become commercially successful. Dr. Oto’s research interests include cancer markers and genetic diagnosis of tumors. In addition to numerous academic papers and review articles, he has authored 13 books. Dr. Oto currently acts as scientific advisor to multiple Japanese corporations and university research groups. He received his Ph.D. in Medical Science from the School of Medicine at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and B.Sc in Biochemistry from Chiba University.

Hiroshi Hase Business Adviser

Mr. Hase has over 25 years of business experience at senior management level. He is a former director of ACOM, one of Japan’s largest consumer finance organizations, and has been involved in the establishment and management of numerous other companies in a wide range of business areas. He currently acts as CEO for 4 firms within the ACOM group. Mr. Hase holds a degree from the Faculty of Law at Meiji Gakuin University

Masatoshi Shinozaki Corporate Auditor

Mr. Shinozaki received his degree from the Faculty of Law at Chuo University. He is a specialist in the financial and taxation fields and is a member of the Japan Federation of Certified Public Tax Accountants’ Associations.