Medical and Health Informatics Laboratories-People

Meet the MEI Team

Hitonobu Tomoike

Director, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.C., Kyushu University, Faculty of Medical Sciences

I am Hitonobu Tomoike, director of Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Laboratories at NTT Research as well as Research Professor for NTT Basic Research Laboratories. I am a consultant at Sakakibara Heart Institute in Tokyo, Japan, and my background is in Cardiology and Internal Medicine (MD & PhD). Facing many dramatic paradigm shifts in healthcare, I believe medical and health informatics will provide the fundamental game change we need. MEI Laboratories will build the “Bio Digital Twin” upon a solid foundation informed by biosensory innovations, AI and functional nano/micro device technologies and precision medicine.

OUr MEI research team

Joe Alexander, Jr.

Distinguished Scientist, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.C., The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine

My background is in engineering and medicine. After graduating with a degree in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University, I studied medicine as a fellow of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Johns Hopkins Medical School where I received both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. My Ph.D. is in Biomedical Engineering, where I specialized in cardiovascular dynamics, training with Dr. Kenji Sunagawa in the laboratory of the late Dr. Kiichi Sagawa. Immediately afterwards, I completed a fellowship in research cardiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine before additional training as a Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellow at Kyushu University. I then took academic faculty positions in Biomedical Engineering and in Medicine at Vanderbilt University while simultaneously completing a residency in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt Hospital. Also, during that time, I helped train astronauts like Dr. Chiaki Mukai for the Neurolab Spacelab Mission. I likewise collaborated with The National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center as a Visiting Researcher supported by the Science and Technology Agency of Japan. Following academia, I entered Pharma – first Merck, then Pfizer. During my 18 years at Pfizer, I worked in various capacities including Field Medical Director, R&D, Business Development, and Medical Affairs. In Pharma as in academia, my passion for modeling and simulation was evident throughout my work and extended across therapeutic areas. I am credited with creating several Pharma modeling platforms including The Lyrica Virtual Lab, The Neuropathic and Neuropathic-like Pain Virtual Lab, and The Pulmonary Vascular Disease Virtual Lab. Finally, I am a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (FACC), and I am very interested in heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and in medical devices.

Yukiko Fukuda

Research Associate, M.D., Gunma University, Faculty of Medicine

I am a Research Associate of the MEI Lab. My research focuses on the development of non-invasive sensors for heart and vascular monitoring, and the understanding of the cardiovascular physiology to contribute to patient health. I am interested in clinical pathophysiology. Prior to joining the MEI Lab, I completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Takasaki General Hospital in Japan. I received my M.D. from Gunma University, and have a business experience as a system engineer at IBM Japan.

Yasuyuki Kataoka

Research Scientist, Master of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology

I am Yasuyuki Kataoka, a research scientist in Medical and Health Informatics laboratories. My primary interest is the applied R&D in machine learning applications for human performance improvement. This data science work involves time series and heterogeneous data such as vision, audio, text, and IoT sensor signals in healthcare, sports, and automotive industries. My other areas of interest include nonlinear control systems such as self-driving cars and drone systems. When not doing research activities, I enjoy participating in hackathons, where I have won prizes in the healthcare and automotive industries. I hold an MS and BS in mechanical and system engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology, where I graduated valedictorian.

Jon N. Peterson

Senior Research Scientist, Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine

My interest is in the application of engineering principles to medical challenges. After obtaining a degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University, I studied the molecular mechanisms underlying cardiac relaxation at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where I received a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. During postdoctoral and faculty appointments at the University of Vermont, I delved into molecular energetics in the normal and diseased heart. I then joined a small consulting group, working on biomedical projects ranging from the detection and classification of atrial fibrillation to a teleoperated surgical robotics system. For the past 15 years, my focus has been on implanted sensors, systems and simulations for diagnosis of cardiac rhythm disorders and heart failure.

Tetsuhiko Teshima

Research Scientist, Ph.D., The University of Tokyo

I am a research scientist at NTT Research and a visiting postdoctoral researcher in the Munich School of Bioengineering at Technische Universität München, Germany. Previously, I was a researcher in NTT Basic Research Laboratories and Bio-Medical Informatics Research Center, Japan. I received my PhD in information science and technology, from the University of Tokyo, Japan. I am broadly interested in self-assembly of nanomaterials and soft materials with a particular focus on the bioelectronics and biointerfaces. Currently my research topics include shapeable self-assembled soft electronics that are envisioned as organs-on-chips and electrically sensing interface with tissues to accelerate biological digital twin technology.