Previously, she was a research scholar at Stanford University’s Institute for International Studies. Her research is focused on topics related to the politics of financial reform and Japanese politics. As a graduate student, she was a recipient of a Monbusho (Ministry of Education) Fellowship that allowed her to conduct fieldwork in Japan on postal savings and the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program. Her current work is on the evolution of development banking in an era of globalizing capital, and its relationship to the changing foreign aid regime in Japan and elsewhere. Dr. Toyoda holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in government from Georgetown University and a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University. She conducted her International Affairs Fellowship in Japan, sponsored by Hitachi, Ltd., at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation in Tokyo.