- Co-founder, president and CEO of Moleculera Labs
- Adjunct Professor, University Of Oklahoma
Dr. Shimasaki is co-founder and CEO of Moleculera Labs, a neuroimmunology precision medicine company focused on diagnosing neurologic, psychiatric and behavioral disorders triggered by an autoimmune response. Dr. Shimasaki has been in the biotechnology industry for over 35 years, starting his career at Genentech, a biotechnology company centered on the development of medicines for people with serious and life-threatening diseases. As a scientist, businessperson, and serial entrepreneur, his work spans across all stages of research and development. His R&D work included epitope mapping for an HIV vaccine, SNP-based genetic breast cancer risk prediction biomarkers, a rapid influenza diagnostic, and therapeutic and biologic products for infectious diseases, neuropsychiatric disorders and noise induced hearing loss. He co-founded several companies and led multiple products through the FDA approval process and is a co-inventor on several patents.
Dr. Shimasaki received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California at Davis, his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Tulsa, and his MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business. He is an adjunct professor and senior entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Oklahoma, Price School of Business and teaches biotechnology entrepreneurship.
His passion is to help translate scientific and medical discoveries into acutely needed products so that more patients can live healthier lives.