Executive Team
Chairman, President & CEO
Dr. Kubota, a world-renowned ophthalmologist who has performed over 1,000 eye surgeries, founded Acucela in 2002 and serves as the company’s president and CEO.
Dr. Kubota spent his early career performing ocular research at Keio University, where he earned his M.D. and Ph.D. In the course of his work there, he discovered the glaucoma gene, myocilin, a discovery that earned him the Suda Award for his contribution to the field of neurodegenerative retinal disease. Dr. Kubota continued his research at the University of Washington and later licensed his findings from the university as the core technology on which Acucela was formed.
Dr. Kubota practiced ophthalmology in Japan for 10 years before moving back to Washington to become an assistant professor at the University of Washington. He then founded Acucela to have a global impact through the development of novel and safe therapies for patients with blinding eye diseases.
Dr. Kubota is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society and the Japan Glaucoma Association. He serves on the Foresight Group of the Department of Pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University and on the board of the Japan-America Society.
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Vice President, Clinical Development & Regulatory Affairs
Dr. Boman has almost 20 years experience in drug development across several therapeutic areas. During her career, she has been directly involved in the successful filing of more than 15 marketing applications globally. Dr. Boman was previously employed with QLT Inc., where she worked on the original NDA filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Visudyne in macular degeneration. Dr. Boman’s career also includes experience at Amgen and Genentech, where she worked in oncology. She also served as Vice President, Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs at Cell Therapeutics in Seattle. Dr. Boman received her M.D. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia. Senior Director, Human Resources
Ms. DeYoung has more than 12 years of human resources management experience in the biotech and medical device industries. At Acucela, she is primarily focused on organizational and managerial development and building the company’s human resources infrastructure. In the three years before joining Acucela, Ms. DeYoung had her own successful consulting business. Previously, she was Director of Human Resources at CEPTYR, Inc. Ms. DeYoung is actively involved in human resources organizations locally and nationally, including serving as co-chair for the HR Group of the Washington Biomedical & Biotechnology Association.Senior Director, Alliance Management & Business Development
Ms. Mitsunobu has extensive and diverse experience in the pharmaceutical industry in the United States and Japan, primarily in business development and alliance management functions. Prior to Acucela, she was at Sofinnova Ventures where she was responsible for seeking, structuring and negotiating strategic alliances to form new business ventures. Previously, she held key senior management roles at Anthera and Peninsula where she managed the company’s licensing efforts and alliance collaborations with Shionogi, Takeda, Eli Lilly and others. Prior to Peninsula, she spent five years in Japan at Eli Lilly and Daiichi (now Daiichi Sankyo). She earned her B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Kobe Pharmaceutical University in Japan, and obtained her national pharmacist license in Japan.Senior Director, Chemistry & Biology
Before joining Acucela, Dr. Scott worked at Albany Molecular, where he spent four years in the Medicinal Chemistry Department, a tenure that included serving as the department’s Assistant Director. In 2003, Dr. Scott was promoted to Group Director, Lead Discovery and Head of Operations of Albany Molecular’s Bothell Research Center, where his responsibilities included oversight of the Natural Products group and establishment of a high-throughput screening organization. Prior to joining Albany Molecular, he served as Associate Director at Texas Biotechnology Corporation, where he worked on several projects including the design and synthesis of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antagonists and VLA-4 inhibitors. Dr. Scott earned his B.S., M. Phil. and Ph.D. from Sheffield University.Director, Finance
Mr. Blocker has over 20 years of financial management experience. Prior to joining Acucela he was the Chief Financial Officer for Ivey Imaging and before that spent five years as a Senior Financial Analyst with ICOS. He earned a BA from Washington State University and an MBA from Seattle University.
Director, Corporate Communications, Marketing & Business Operations
Ms. Pohlod has nearly 15 years of experience in biologic and pharmaceutical commercial development, marketing and sales. She previously served as Associate Director, New Product Commercialization and Business Development at Bayer Healthcare (formally Berlex Labs). Prior to joining Berlex, she held a number of marketing and commercial development positions with FibroGen, Abbott Labs, and Cell Therapeutics. Ms. Pohlod holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Pharmacy from Washington State University.