Mickey (mitsuyuki) Matsumoto BS, MS, PhD

Dr. Matsumoto currently heads the Unit 2, Candidate Discovery Science Labs. at Astellas Pharma Inc. located in Tsukuba, Japan and is responsible for discovery of new therapeutics for neuropsychiatric and immune disorders. Dr. Matsumoto received his B.S. (1988), M.S. (1990) and Ph.D. (1997) from the University of Tokyo. After joining Astellas predecessor Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd. in 1990, he led the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) group in discovering novel GPCRs and their ligands.

Dr. Matsumoto served as a Visiting Scholar (2001 – 2003) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), USA, under Drs. Daniel Weinberger and Joel Kleinman, where he was involved in dedicated studies of schizophrenia genetics and pathophysiology. After Astellas Pharma Inc. emerged from a merger of Yamanouchi and Fujisawa, Dr. Matsumoto established a CNS research group at Astellas Research Institute of America LLC in Skokie, Illinois (2008 – 2014). In 2012, Dr. Matsumoto was the first member of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry nominated as a Member of American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), where he currently serves as a Fellow. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, USA (2009-2017).