Dr. Shu-ichi Matsuzawa serves as the founding Head of SlingstoneBio and as a Board Member, leading the company’s scientific mission and strategic business development in Japan.
Dr. Matsuzawa has over 30 years of experience as an academic researcher in the fields of molecular biology, immunology, cancer biology, and neuroscience. In addition to his research, he has led drug discovery projects in academic settings and played a key role in industry-academia collaborations. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Matsuzawa received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, followed by a PhD degree from the same department. He began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Immunological Science at Hokkaido University.
Dr. Matsuzawa then moved to the United States, where he joined the laboratory of Dr. John C. Reed at the Burnham Institute (La Jolla, CA) as a Postdoctoral Fellow. He continued his research at the Burnham Institute as a Staff Scientist, and later served as an Assistant Professor and led a drug discovery project at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Dr. Matsuzawa also served as an Visiting Professor at the Department of Pharmacology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine.
Later, Dr. Matsuzawa became an Associate Professor at the Drug Discovery Incubation Laboratory, Department of Neurology, Kyoto University Hospital. He currently holds a concurrent position as an Associate Professor at the Kyoto University San Diego Research Center and at the Department of Therapeutics for Multiple System Atrophy, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University.
Dr. Matsuzawa also serves as Executive Advisor to Ever Inc., where he participates in the management of a business incubator in Kyoto, including a shared laboratory. He works in collaboration with national and local governments to promote the development of a life science ecosystem in the city of Kyoto.