Rate My Professor Koji Eto

Koji Eto is Director and Professor in the Department of Clinical Application at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Yamanashi Medical University in March 1990 and earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. His early career included residency at Toranomon Hospital and positions at Teikyo University, followed by postdoctoral work at The Scripps Research Institute. He later held roles at the University of Tokyo, including Associate Professor at the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, before joining CiRA as Professor in July 2011. He has served as Head of the Department of Clinical Application since April 2022, Deputy Director since April 2024, and Director since April 2026, with additional cross-appointments at Chiba University.

Professor Eto’s research focuses on developing iPS cell-derived erythrocytes and platelets for transfusion medicine, advancing from basic studies of hematopoiesis and megakaryocyte differentiation to clinical applications. His laboratory achieved the world’s first clinical study of autologous iPS cell-derived platelets in a patient with transfusion refractoriness in 2020. He has received the 1st CiRA Award in 2014, the 5th Terumo Foundation Award in 2017, the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine Johnson & Johnson Innovation Award in 2020, and the 8th CiRA Award in 2021.