Shiho Azuma

Shiho Azuma is the CEO of Lily MedTech Inc., a spin-off company from the University of Tokyo. The company aims to develop a new ultrasound imaging system to detect breast cancer without any direct contact, pain or exposure to radiation.

Shiho witnessed her mother battle through brain cancer till she passed away. This experience gave rise to Lily MedTech, through which she aimed at saving the lives of young women and mothers.

Shiho holds a BS in Physics and an MS in Aerospace Engineering from Arizona State University. In 2009, she entered as a postgraduate student in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) but dropped out of the course. She then worked for a measuring equipment manufacturer. Later, her husband, a researcher in ultrasound imaging diagnosis and treatment systems at the University of Tokyo, invited her to launch a business together. Lily MedTech was then established in 2016.

She has won several awards, including the 2017 University Venture Award, 2017 Early Edge Award, and 2019 Forbes Japan Rising Star Award. Shiho was nominated for the EY Innovative Startup 2019 award, was a runner-up for the 2019 Plug & Play Btach2: InsureTech Award and was selected as "J-Startup" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan. Shiho encourages women to undergo mammography, and eventually promote the screening tool to the rest of the world.

“We aim to save women and their families from breast cancer by providing an efficient way to detect the disease painlessly and without any exposure to radiation,” Shiho said.