The third of four children to Japanese American Nisei parents, Dr. Matayoshi grew up in socially and economically diverse inner city Chicago where he attended and graduated from Kenwood High School. He earned a BA in Biology from the Colorado College and a degree in Nuclear Medical Technology from the Hines V.A. Hospital near Chicago, Illinois.

After spending several years in various professional positions including hospital service as an ARRT registered NMT, Dr. Matayoshi attended graduate school at the Albany Medical College of Union University in Albany, New York where he received both his MS and PhD in Physiology and Cell Biology. His thesis research focused on fibronectin and its affects on platelet reactivity in both laboratory and large animal models.

Dr. Matayoshi has 25 plus years of diverse teaching, academic and student support experience, of which eight years were in international venues. He has worked with all levels of students from sixth grade through continuing adult and medical education and his teaching and administrative experience have been at community colleges, four-year colleges, professional and graduate schools where he has managed and taught in institutions that use a variety of educational approaches from large lecture hall settings, to small groups and workshops, to individual mentoring relationships, incorporating both standard lecture, problem-based, flipped classroom and on-line methodology.

Besides his expertise in medical science, Dr. Matayoshi is a trained cultural diversity facilitator, public speaking coach and educational consultant.

During his career Dr. Matayoshi has won numerous classroom teaching awards, been recognized for his support of minority and disadvantaged students and development of educational programming and he has held the positions of Professor of Physiology, Department Chair, Director of Student Affairs, Director of Learning Support Services, Assistant and Associate Dean, and Commissioner for the USDE recognized educational accrediting commission COMTA.

Currently, Dr. Matayoshi is involved in both the DO and graduate programs as a lecturer, and mentor. He has also initiated a Human Performance Laboratory to drive student and faculty research on the Georgia Campus, serves on several campus, faculty and institutional committees, and is a campus liaison to the local community through his work with Gwinnett County Public Schools and the Gwinnett County leadership community. He has a wife and two sons and has side interests in horticulture and ichthyology.