Dr. Kubota founded Acucela in 2002. He spent his early career performing ocular research at Keio University, where he earned his MD and PhD. In the course of his work there, he earned the Suda Award for discovering the glaucoma gene myocilin. Dr. Kubota practiced ophthalmology in Japan and was an assistant professor at the University of Washington.
Dr. Kubota is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Japanese Ophthalmological Society, and the Keio Medical Society. He sits on the Japan-America Society's State of Washington Board and was named one of Seattle Business Magazine’s Top 25 Innovators & Entrepreneurs. He was named one of the most inspiring people in the life sciences industry by PharmaVOICE and was selected as one of the Nikkei Business 100, Nikkei Business Magazine’s inaugural list of the most influential people for Japan’s future.