Adareus is a consulting firm headquartered in Southern California focused on transforming the strategy, processes and capabilities of leading organizations by putting people first. Established in 2024, Adareus combines decades of broad expertise from business strategy and operations leaders to provide unique solutions for clients using the power of technology, data science, hands-on training, and continuous improvement coaching. Through our program, we engage an instructional approach to translate knowledge into capability, from theory to application.
Our team is comprised of a group of industry innovators with deep experience across a broad range of disciplines. Learn more about our leadership team below.
Keith Kato, Co-Founder
Keith Kato has more than 20 years of expertise in operations management across various industries, including life sciences, specialty retail, and aerospace, most recently having served as Vice President of Operations at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies (FDB).
Prior to FDB, Keith was responsible for leading operations at Atara Biotherapeutics’ contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) to improve Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliance and ensure clinical supply. As Vice President of Technical Operations, he spearheaded the Atara COVID-19 program, built out a 33,000 square foot research facility, ensured a successful EU pre-approval inspection (PAI) and expanded the Operational Excellence team to a robust corporate program.
Prior to that, Keith held key leadership positions at Alexion and Amgen, bringing specialized experience in clinical and commercial manufacturing, supply chain, quality control, and quality assurance in North America and Europe. Earlier in his career, Keith led production operations at Blue Nile and served as a Team Lead at Honeywell.
As an operations leader, his notable achievements include measurable business improvements and turnarounds through the deployment of an Integrated Management System (IMS) across multiple industries and sites, and he has been globally recognized for coveted awards such as the International Business Awards’® Gold Medal for Most Valuable Corporate Response to COVID-19, the Amgen Excellence in Operations award, and the Pentair Site Excellence award.
Keith holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MBA from USC. He is a graduate of the Honeywell MBA Rotational Leadership program.
Daniel Lee, Co-Founder
Daniel Lee brings more than 17 years of multi-disciplinary experience in the life sciences industry to Adareus, including in internal and external manufacturing, contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO), quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC), supply chain, and operational excellence, most recently serving as Head of Operational Excellence at Atara Biotherapeutics.
Prior to Atara, Daniel held key roles of increasing responsibility at Alexion, Amgen and earlier in his career, Allergan. Most notably, Daniel was responsible for manufacturing monoclonal antibodies in single-use bioreactor systems, managed high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analytical testing of Allergan’s BOTOX®, was the launch lead in the JAPAC Region for Amgen’s BLINCYTO®, XGEVA®, Prolia® and Vectibix®, drove operational excellence initiatives to lift an FDA 483 Warning Letter, and spearheaded clinical, pre-approval, and commercialization initiatives for allogeneic cell therapy platforms.
Daniel’s expertise includes driving business performance improvements through applied analytics and prioritization of critical initiatives to reach organizational goals. Through the implementation of Management Systems for Operations and Quality Management Systems across multiple biotechnology manufacturing sites, he has been able to solve complex organizational problems, improve quality at the source, and drive realization of business goals across multiple organization types.
In addition to this, Daniel has been recognized on the international stage for his achievements, including as a recipient of the first-prize award for Most Valuable Corporate Response to COVID-19 in the 18th Annual International Business Awards®.
Daniel holds a BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UC San Diego and an MBS from Keck Graduate Institute.
Robert Uyekawa, Co-Founder
With more than 30 years of expertise across the life sciences, automotive, aerospace, construction and food industries, Robert Uyekawa brings deep and diverse knowledge to the Adareus leadership team. In addition to his work with Adareus, Robert is renowned for providing Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean consulting to companies who are committed to continuously improving their business processes.
Robert has spent the last 15 years partnering with leading organizations to implement the TPS manufacturing philosophy and continuous improvement practices, with a proven track record of driving efficiency and growth. He began his career at Toyota Motor Sales, USA, where he received specialized on-the-job training in Japan to understand Toyota’s project management, tooling and production operations.
While at Toyota, Robert held key manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and supplier development roles. As a consultant, he has worked with clients in biotechnology and cell therapy, medical devices, contract manufacturers, aerospace, automotive, food, and other consumer products to enable them to make significant enhancements to business performance.
Robert holds a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona.