UH Med Now
Remembering the UH medical school’s Yoshitsugi Hokama, PhD (1926-2017) Date: October 5th, 2017 in Alumni News, Faculty, Giving, JABSOM News, Research
![]() Pictured: Dr. Hokama, right, with his son Jon Hokama. Family photo. After a 42-year career of research, inventions and teaching, Yoshitsugi Hokama, PhD, retired in 2008 from the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). He was said to have regretted retiring, although his brilliant teaching career had already inspired about 150 former students to go onto rewarding posts in medicine and the basic sciences. Dr. Hokama died last month at the age of 90 at Maluhia. Some of Dr. Hokama’s academic contributions include: “Dr. Hokama was the first person who opened the door to biomedical research for me,” said Dr. Sandra Chang, JABSOM Alumna and Professor in JABSOM’s Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology. “At the time I was an undergraduate biology major with no exposure to research. Dr. Hokama’s friendly and enthusiastic welcome marked the beginning of my life in academia, and I am forever grateful for the opportunities he gave me. In his lab, I met other students who would become lifelong friends and colleagues. All of us agree that our time in Dr. Hokama’s lab had a major impact on our lives and we will always treasure the experience of having had the good fortune of knowing him,” said Dr. Chang. ![]() |