Ken Harada
Dr. Harada is a clinical radiation oncologist currently at Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, Japan. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, majoring in Astronomy Physics. He then returned to Japan and received his medical degree from Tokai University. He completed his residency and fellowship training in radiation oncology at the National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo. He received his PhD in medicine from Chiba University after clinical training. He was on the faculty at Tokai University and Showa University before accepting a position at Tohoku University in May 2025.
His research focuses on developing minimally invasive and cost-efficient nanomaterials that could be applied to clinical medicine. Those are multidisciplinary teams of medicine, material science, mechanical engineering, and patient voice. One-stop development from the seed to the exit stage in academia is a team goal. He plans to expand his research in the field of antibody science. This next-generation antibody-drug development offers a valuable clinical perspective, which he seeks to share with IASLC members.
Dr. Harada is actively involved as a member of the IASLC and the Japan Lung Cancer Society (JLCS). He has a strong commitment to the IASLC. He served on the Advanced Radiation Technology Committee and proposed a manuscript project on personalized radiotherapy. JTO published this manuscript, which was collaborative work done by biomarker experts. He also served on the Organizing Program Committee for several World Conferences for Lung Cancer, including as Multidisciplinary Management of Advanced Lung Cancer Track co-chair in 2021. Currently, he continues to be an active member of the Multidisciplinary Clinical Science Committee. Furthermore, he serves on the International Committee in JLCS and recommends that junior colleagues apply for IASLC membership.
Hidehito Horinouchi
Hidehito Horinouchi, MD, PhD, is currently engaged in patient care, teaching, and research in thoracic medical oncology as an assistant chief at the Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. As director of the Center for Professional Education and Career Development, he supports young medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists and other medical staff in learning specialized cancer treatment. Many young oncologists started their research with his assistance and received honorable awards, including the ASCO Merit Awards and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) grants.
His activities are not limited to his institution but reach out to the Asia-Pacific region and globally by utilizing educational committees in the Japan Lung Cancer Society (JLCS), the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO), and IASLC. He has served as Deputy Chair of the Education Committee for all these societies, and his contributions have strengthened inter-society collaboration. As a member of the JLCS Board of Directors, he has been particularly focused on aligning with the IASLC and has led the signing of the MOU for the IASLC-JLCS society partnership.
He also serves as the general secretary of JCOG (Japan Clinical Oncology Group), contributing to initiating many clinical trials covering broad fields in thoracic oncology, with multiple modalities, including immunotherapy, cytotoxic agents, radiotherapy, and surgery. Based on his wealth of knowledge and experience, he has conducted essential trials, including the trial evaluating nivolumab for patients with thymic epithelial tumor and currently engaging multimodality therapy for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, registration trial of minimal residual disease (MRD) analysis for lung cancer in Japan.
He has provided many presentations at key academic conferences, including the IASLC, ASCO, and ESMO. He published more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts, mainly in thoracic oncology.
Junichi Soh
Junichi Soh, MD, PhD, is a distinguished thoracic surgeon and researcher specializing in cancer and molecular biology. He currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. Prior to this, he held a professorship and an associate professorship in the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Kindai University Faculty of Medicine.
Dr. Soh earned his M.D. from Okayama University Medical School in 1998 and completed his Ph.D. in Cancer and Thoracic Surgery at the same institution in 2007. His professional training includes a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, USA, where he conducted cutting-edge research on thoracic oncology.
Throughout his career, Dr. Soh has made significant contributions to thoracic surgery and cancer research. He has published over 190 peer-reviewed articles on topics such as surgical advancements for malignant thoracic tumors and molecular biology in oncology. His research has influenced the development of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for lung cancer.
Dr. Soh holds multiple board certifications, including those from the Japan Surgical Society and the Japanese Board of General Thoracic Surgery. He is an active member of several prestigious professional organizations, such as the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the Japan Lung Cancer Society, where he serves on multiple committees.
Recognized for his research excellence, Dr. Soh received the Young Investigator Award from the Japanese Association for Chest Surgery. His work continues to advance the field of thoracic oncology, bridging clinical practice with molecular research to improve patient outcomes.
Yasushi Yatabe
Dr. Yasushi Yatabe currently serves as Chief of the Department of Diagnostic Pathology at the National Cancer Center Hospital and Chief of the Division of Molecular Pathology at the National Cancer Center Research Institute, both in Tokyo, Japan. He received a medical degree from Tsukuba University, School of Medicine, in 1991 and subsequently completed my Ph.D. in 1995 at Nagoya University in Japan. From 1998, Dr. Yatabe spent two years in a postdoctoral fellowship studying at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, after which he returned to Japan and served as Senior Pathologist and Chief (from 2005) at the Aichi Cancer Center Hospital until 2019. In 2019, he moved to the National Cancer Center in Tokyo and became the Chief of the Department of Pathology at the hospital and research institute. Additionally, while participating as an active member of the IASLC for 15 years, Dr. Yatabe has served as Chair of the Pathology Committee of the IASLC, Co-chair for the CAP/IASLC/AMP molecular testing guidelines board (2015–2017), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (2006-present). As part of his career dedicated to research, more than 600 articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and he has earned a number of awards, including the 2017 IASLC Mary J. Matthews Pathology/Translational Research Award. His recent area of interest is focused on translational research of lung cancer, with results obtained thus far providing significant contributions to the expanding integration of clinical molecular oncology and pathology.