Hiroyuki Nakai, M.D., Ph.D.

Engineering novel AAV vector technologies to unlock gene therapy for kidney diseases.

Dr. Hiroyuki Nakai is a School of Medicine Distinguished Professor in Molecular Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), where he holds appointments in the Departments of Molecular & Medical Genetics and Molecular Microbiology & Immunology. He is Founder, President & CEO of NeoSakura BTX, Inc., an OHSU-based startup developing transformative gene therapies for kidney disease, and Co-Founder of Capsigen, Inc., where he served as Chief Scientific Officer prior to its recent merger with M34 Inc. Dr. Nakai earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, where he completed his clinical residency and fellowship. He then joined Avigen Inc. in California as a Research Fellow before conducting postdoctoral research in Dr. Mark Kay’s laboratory at Stanford University. Over the past three decades, his research has focused on elucidating AAV vector biology and engineering novel AAV vectors for targeted gene therapy. Building on this foundation, Dr. Nakai has spent the past seven years on developing innovative AAV-mediated gene therapies specifically for kidney diseases.