NAKAGAMA Hitoshi, M.D., D.M.Sc.
President
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)

NAKAGAMA Hitoshi has served as President of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) since April 2025 and concurrently served as Honorary President of National Cancer Center (NCC) since April 2025. He earned his medical degree from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine in 1982 and received his Ph.D. in 1992. He then joined the Center for Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked with Prof. D.E. Housman on the functional analysis of the tumor suppressor gene WT1. After returning back to Japan in 1995, he joined the NCC Research Institute (NCCRI), where he held key leadership roles: Chief of the Biochemistry Division (1997), Deputy Director (2007), Director of NCCRI (2011), and President of NCC (2016). His research at NCCRI focused on animal models of colon carcinogenesis induced by various environmental carcinogens as well as comprehensive studies on DNA adductomics to elucidate genetic/epigenetic alterations that play pivotal roles in driving cancer development. He has also been engaged in elucidating mutational signatures across several types of human cancers, and was committed to implementing Japan’s Action Plan for Whole Genome Analysis by leading the expert committee responsible for promoting the plan and contributing to the establishment of its implementing organizational framework.