Larry Nagahara

Vice Dean for Research and Translation, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

Larry Nagahara, Ph.D., is Vice Dean for Research and Translation and a research professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. He also holds a visiting professor appointment at the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research at the University of Tsukuba. With Johns Hopkins’ membership in the U.S.-Japan Digital Innovation Hub since 2015, he has helped sustain dialogue among universities, government, research institutions, and industry on emerging technologies and bilateral innovation.

At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Nagahara leads efforts to strengthen the school’s research and translation ecosystem, including research strategy, shared infrastructure, technology commercialization, industry and government engagement, and cross-disciplinary initiatives. His current work includes aligning engineering research and advanced computational resources with Johns Hopkins’ major university-wide investment in data science and artificial intelligence, giving him an institutional perspective on how AI is transforming scientific discovery, research organizations, workforce needs, and the translation of ideas into societal and commercial impact.

Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Nagahara held leadership roles at the National Cancer Institute, developing interdisciplinary programs that connected the physical sciences, engineering, biology, medicine, and technology development. He previously spent more than a decade at Motorola Labs working across molecular biotechnology, molecular electronics, nanosensors, and embedded systems. His experience across academia, government, and industry, along with longstanding engagement with international research partners, gives him a distinctive perspective on how the United States and Japan can build trusted, multidisciplinary pathways from AI-enabled discovery to real-world application. Dr. Nagahara is a Fellow of AAAS, IEEE, APS, MRS, ECS, and AIMBE.