I have devoted my career as a surgeon to the subspecialty of surgical oncology and to the academic pursuit of patient care, teaching and basic and clinical research on cancer patients at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), one of McGill University’s illustrious teaching hospitals. For my research thesis on “Blood Flow to Tumours,” I obtained a Master of Science from McGill in 1966.
It has been a truly rewarding experience for me to be a part of McGill University. My journey started in 1961 when I arrived in Montreal to complete my surgical residency in General Surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Soon after, I was blessed by having as my mentor Dr. Lloyd D. Maclean, Chair of the Department of Surgery and Surgeon-in-Chief, who encouraged me to become an academic surgeon by stressing the importance of research and teaching as well as clinical care of patients. Through his leadership, the Department of Surgery of the McGill Faculty of Medicine became the leader in many innovative surgical fields in Canada. Upon completion of my training, I accepted, with great pride, his offer of a position in his Department.
Through the years, it has been my pleasure to have been involved with founding the following vital programs and initiatives: the Oncology Day Centre (1965), the Melanoma Clinic (1972), the RVH Cedars Breast Clinic, the Annual Dr. Henry Shibata Cedars Fellowship Awards, the first residency program in surgical oncology (1978), the Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology (1988), the Annual Henry R. Shibata Lectureship (1995), the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology (1995), and the Montreal Academy Club, which assists Japanese exchange researchers to McGill (1963).
I also helped foster a liaison between the Faculties of Medicine at McGill University and Hiroshima University in 1998 when I assisted Mayor Pierre Bourque as a member of the committee working to make Montreal and Hiroshima sister cities. In 2002, I was awarded a medal from the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Gold Rays with Rosette) from the government of Japan for fostering educational collaborations between McGill and many Japanese universities and for meritorious service to the Japanese community of Montreal.
During my career, I have been honoured to receive lifetime achievement awards from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) (2008), the Cedars Cancer Foundation (2012) and McGill’s Department of Oncology (2014). From McGill University, I have received the following awards and distinctions: Founding Member of McGill Department of Oncology (2001), Outstanding Contribution to Promotion of Japanese/Canadian Academic Relations (2013) and, upon retirement from McGill, the title of Professor Emeritus (2006).
I offer my sincerest gratitude to the two Canadian surgeons, Dr. L. D. MacLean and Dr. E. J. Tabah, and the American surgeon, Dr. Bernard Fisher of the NSABP, who provided me with wisdom and knowledge to work on different projects and continue to improve care of patients with cancer. I hope that I have been blessed in the same way by providing guidance to aspiring young doctors and scientists to follow in our footsteps.
Also, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to my many medical and surgical colleagues who have been great friends, to the NSABP team, Josie Pepe-Aylward and Rosie Santos, for their able assistance with patient accrual and support of important clinical trials, and to the many oncologic nurses who helped with the difficult task of caring for grieving cancer patients and their families in their times of need.
Lastly, heartfelt gratitude to the wonderful members of the Cedars Cancer Foundation for their tireless efforts to help provide the best care possible for cancer patients at the McGill University Health Centre and golden opportunities to achieve our goals!