TEAM
FOUNDERS
Euma Ishii
Co-Founder
Euma is an aspiring clinical informatician and an impatient optimist that believes in health as a human right. He also believes the integration of health systems strengthening with technology is key for realizing a world without extreme poverty. Euma was an officer at the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare's COVID-19 Response Headquarters and is pursuing an MD-PhD at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University with a focus on global health and clinical artificial intelligence.
Euma co-founded LIAISON after his experience at MIT shifted his worldview. He is currently involved in developing clinical AI (cAI)-based solutions and holistic databases for low-resource settings. Learn more here.
Shion Seino
Co-Founder
Shion is a global health advocacy nut. After graduating university, she worked at the Japan Institute for Global Health, a global health policy think tank in Tokyo, where she advocated for polio eradication while promoting Japan's involvement in global health. As part of the Global Policy and Government Affairs team at Global Citizen, she supported health advocacy and created partnerships to implement Global Citizen’s movement into Asia. At Anchorstar, she supported efforts to create mutually beneficial Japan-entry strategies for oversea companies. Most recently, she worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Project Coordinator to rear and promote the next generation of global health leaders, and currently serves as a partner to increase commitments for global health and polio eradication from Japan.
Parker Zhao
Co-Founder
Parker is an economics PhD researcher at Stanford. His current research spans the fields of econometrics, health, and behavioral economics. He developed an interest in global health after studying development economics during his undergraduate years at MIT. He has worked for the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) on a project in India and has work experience in Spain, Japan, and the U.S.
TEAM
Saya Maeda
Project Coordinator
Saya’s NPO journey began at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center in Seattle and extended through arts organizations in Los Angeles, the United Nations in New York, and Voices for Progress, where she focused on political and policy advocacy. Her passions include environmental justice, housing rights, and health access. During her senior year of college, an introductory public health class coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and deepened her appreciation for a holistic, socially informed approach to health. Saya is eager to expand her understanding of global public health and leverage her diverse experience at Liaison to ensure people everywhere can thrive.
Connor Bender
Associate
Connor is a student at the University of Washington double majoring in Biology and Japanese who also studied abroad for a year at Waseda University. He has done both clinical volunteering and scientific research in the past as he has worked with MultiCare Hospital Seattle and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance respectively. His ultimate goal is to enter medical school and become a physician, but he first wants to gain more experience working full-time in the research field. Connor’s hobbies include playing basketball and tennis, watching movies, and singing.
Chisato Banno
Associate
Chisato is a senior medical technology student at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. She studied clinical technologies as her specialty, but she is also curious about learning business and studies it by herself little by little. The experiences of starting up a volunteer organization at TMDU was the great opportunity to get her foot in the world of business. She started working as an intern at Liaison from December 2022 to explore her desire to learn healthcare business, and has contributed to Liaison’s polio advocacy as well as Liaison’s work with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. She hopes to challenge herself through many projects to solidify her vision and mission.
Takaki kobayashi
Associate
Takaki is an MD candidate at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and an associate at Liaison. Upon meeting a fellow five year old in horrendous conditions in India, the pursuit for a world without inequity and injustice, as well as global health approaches in solving these grand challenges has been his passion. He recently published his first paper in the Journal of Epidemiology with professors from TMDU, Chiba University, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is taking a year off to dedicate his time towards Liaison’s projects, and is currently head of the first TMDU Ideathon and Hackathon to promote innovation and international collaboration between Japan and the world.
meg TAKEYAMA
Back Office
Meg supports our back office and administrative tasks, and is currently based in South Korea. Meg has a range of experiences in sales, marketing, customer service, customer satisfaction, and administrative operations at both major and small-to-middle entities. She now is supporting the “Japan Entry” of a Korean e-commerce platform while honing her Korean speaking and writing abilities.
Karin Pradhan
Creative Director
Karin is an experienced project manager with over 8 years of experience in various creative industries. She has worked for the fastest-growing translation company in the world, and more recently, under the largest media company in Japan. Her previous homes include the Middle East, South America, SE Asia and Oceania.She loves traveling, learning new languages, and bridging people around the world. Check out what she's been up to here.