Program Director / Faculty Sponsor
Shuichi (Shu) Takayama, PhD
Professor, GRA Eminent Scholar
Price Gilbert, Jr. Chair in Regenerative Engineering and Medicine
Dr. Shu Takayama earned his BS and MS in Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Tokyo. He earned a PhD in Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California studying bio-organic synthesis with Dr. Chi‐Huey Wong. He then worked as a postdoc with Dr. George Whitesides at Harvard University where he focused on applying microfluidics to studying cell and molecular biology.
Dr. Takayama began his career at the University of Michigan, where he led his lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Macromolecular Science & Engineering for over 17 years. In 2017, the lab moved to Georgia Tech where Shu became the Georgia Research Alliance Price Gilbert Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Takayama’s research interests are diverse and motivated by clinical and biotechnology needs. He is always interested in hearing from stakeholders in these areas who are seeking engineering collaboration.
Program Associate Director
Brian Woodall, PhD
Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs
Brian Woodall received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and, prior to joining Georgia Tech’s faculty, held full-time faculty positions at the University of California at Irvine and Harvard University. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tohoku University, and Kobe University. Dr. Woodall is the author of Growing Democracy in Japan: The Parliamentary Cabinet System Since 1868 (University Press of Kentucky), Japan Under Construction: Corruption, Politics, and Public Works (University of California Press), and Japan’s Changing World Role (Japan Society), and co-editor of Elections in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Under the Single Non-Transferable Vote (University Michigan Press). In addition, he has authored numerous articles and book chapters, and serves on the editorial board of Routledge Studies on Comparative Asian Politics. He has been interviewed on various media outlets, including CNN, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and the Asahi Shimbun. His research and teaching utilize the tools of comparative institutional analysis to illuminate a range of sustainable development-related issues, including energy security and environmental stewardship, social equity, megaregion sustainability, disaster resilience, and critical infrastructure protection. Dr. Woodall has received funding support from the Fulbright Commission, Coca-Cola Foundation, U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, the Abe Fellowship Program of the Social Science Research Council, the University of California Pacific Rim Research Program, and the Japan Foundation. He currently serves as Director of the Japan Summer Program in Sustainable Development and is a member of the Kobe University Board of Advisors.
Program Manager
Soojung Lee, PhD
Research Scientist II, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Soojung Lee earned BS/MS/PhD in Food Science and Technology from Kyungsung University in South Korea, developing a chiral epoxide hydrolase biocatalyst for biofilters. Dr. Lee then worked as a postdoc at Emory University, focusing on the structural and functional analysis of acid-base transporters in human disease. In 2011, Dr. Lee moved to Denmark, where she worked as a postdoc and assistant professor at Aarhus University, where she focused on the study of acid-base regulation mechanisms in human and murine breast cancer. In 2018, Dr. Lee moved to Georgia Tech as a research scientist II in the Biomedical Engineering Department. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on mammary organoid & microtissue model development and cancer research.