Akira Kobayashi, MD, PhD, is a graduate of Shiga University of Medical Science and did his ophthalmology residency at the Department of Ophthalmology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Japan. He completed a research fellowship in a molecular genetics laboratory at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. Currently, Dr. Kobayashi is a chief of cornea service at Kanazawa University Hospital. Dr. Kobayashi is a recipient of 2007 Japan cornea society promising investigator award.