Dr. Bates is the Chief Medical Officer & Head of Research for SanBio, Inc. a stem cell company based in both Tokyo and Mountain View, California. Prior to his current position at SanBio, Dr. Bates has held senior executive & leadership roles in clinical development and medical affairs in multiple US based companies including Baxter, Organogenesis and Allergan. As Chief Medical Officer of Organogenesis, he successfully led the first and only BLA approval of an allogeneic cell based product in the US in 2012.  Dr. Bates has also led the design and execution of over 20 IND, IDE and CTN studies across drugs, biologics and devices in the US and Asia and has had extensive regulatory interactions with the FDA, PMDA and EMA around the development and approval of cell based medicines.  Dr. Bates received his medical degree from the University of Sydney, his PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Melbourne, his Fellowship in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and his MBA from the Wharton Business School.