Keiji Numata is currently Full Professor in the Department of Material Chemistry, Kyoto University, and Team Leader at the Biomacromolecules Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan. He is also Research Director for JST-ERATO Numata Organellar Reaction Cluster Project and leads the Precision Polymer Degradation, Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Area, in Japan. He investigates biosynthesis and material design of structural proteins, polypeptides, and poly(amino acid). He previously worked as JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad at Tufts University (Medford, MA, United States), where he studied biosynthesis of silk-based polymers via bacterial pathways, as well as biomedical applications of silk-based polymers. Dr. Numata has received numerous awards for his work and is currently one of the associate editors of ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, and an editorial advisory board member for Biomacromolecules and ACS Polymers Au.