Dr. Tatsuya Kondo is Chief Executive of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. He has been in this position since 2008. He is responsible for all the operations of PMDA, i.e. relief for adverse health effects of drugs, drug/medical devices reviews, and post-marketing safety measures.
Before taking the current position, he spent most of his career as a neurosurgeon after he graduated from Medical Department of the University of Tokyo in 1968. He worked at various medical institutions, including the First National Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo. From 1978 to 2008, he worked at the International Medical Center of Japan, serving as Hospital Director in the last five years, responsible for management and discipline of the 900-bed hospital. During the period, he was positively engaged in R&D activities as a surgeon scientist, invented stereotactic treatment system for cancer, and found fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-9 from brain tumor.
Besides, he has wide-ranging experience overseas, such as fellowship in Max-Planck Institute in Germany for biological research on brain tumor in 1977, and visiting staff surgeon in China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing in 1987 to establish its Department of Neurosurgery under JICA project.
Currently, he is also serving as the Advisor on Health and Medical Strategy for Cabinet Secretariat of Japanese Government, and as the Vice President of Medical Excellence JAPAN, a general incorporated association.