Canon USA has announced the appointment of Ms Akiko Tanaka as president and CEO of Canon US Life Sciences (CLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon USA.  Ms Tanaka, previously the vice-president and COO of CLS, has also been appointed to the CLS Board of Directors.

In this position, Ms Tanaka will oversee the management of business initiatives relating to the development of diagnostic solutions. Dr Ivor Knight, senior vice-president and CTO, will report directly to Ms Tanaka to support these initiatives.

Ms Tanaka has also been recently appointed as the president and CEO of the newly established Canon BioMedical (CBMI) which focuses on the development, manufacturing, and marketing operations relating to lifescience and molecular diagnostics businesses. This new company will look for long-term future growth opportunities in previously untapped markets for Canon such as lifescience, healthcare, and medical analysis through the use of existing and emerging Canon technology, as well as strategic partnerships.

"I am confident that under the leadership of Ms Tanaka, Canon will succeed in its mission to develop innovative technologies and solutions that assist in improving human health and in advancing science," said Mr Joe Adachi, chairman and CEO, Canon USA.

"I am honored to take on this new role and to help align the overall biomedical strategy in the Canon Americas. Both CLS and CBMI will work together to research, develop and bring new technologies to markets all over the world," said Ms Tanaka.

Ms Tanaka has spent 29 years working for Canon and joined Canon USA in April 2012. She began her career at Canon Inc. in 1986 as a system engineer doing software development in R&D and later joined a Strategic Alliance that handled all of Canon's OEM business.