Yutaka Kikkawa, M.D. (吉川裕)

Yutaka Kikkawa, M.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pathology at the University of California Irvine from 1988 to 2000, passed away peacefully at home on July 31, 2016, at the age of 84.

A native of Oita City, Japan, Dr. Kikkawa graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Science and Medicine in 1957. Following a year of rotating internship at Tokyo U.S. Army Hospital, he came to the United States and spent another year as a rotating intern at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. He then took residency training in pathology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 1960 to 1963. From 1963 to 1976 he rose through the ranks from Instructor to Professor of Pathology at the same institution. From 1976 to 1988 he served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pathology at New York Medical College. He came to Irvine in 1988.

Dr. Kikkawa was one of the pioneers in lung research in health and disease. His publications on the cellular and biochemical factors essential for keeping lungs inflated and for making breathing possible (the surfactant system) are classics in medicine, and have been highly cited, as shown by the inclusion of many of his research papers in Citation Classics. He was the first to demonstrate the nature and fetal development of surfactant, its origin in type II pneumocytes, and its pivotal role in the development of the respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn. Dr. Kikkawa also clarified the role of microsomal cytochrome P450 as the central source of free radicals in lung damage following hyperoxygenation. His work also involved studies on the role of P450 and dietary tryptophan in chemical carcinogenesis.

The most remarkable aspect of Dr. Kikkawa’s contributions to research is the fact that he chaired pathology departments at two different medical schools for nearly a quarter of a century. Although the responsibilities of a medical school clinical chair are extraordinarily complex, Dr. Kikkawa’s productivity and originality in research appear to have been utterly unaffected. He received many honors, including a commendation by the White House, for his research achievements. As a teacher and mentor, he trained many who became leaders in science and medicine both here and abroad. Dr. Kikkawa is remembered as a person of wisdom and knowledge, with a quiet, gentle demeanor. It is also noteworthy that he was a varsity hockey player at the University of Tokyo, a champion Mahjong player, and an excellent golfer. He enjoyed preparing Japanese cuisines, and his love of cats was legendary. He was also a lover of classical music and could distinguish performances given by different orchestras.

Dr. Kikkawa will be remembered as a gentleman and a distinguished colleague, and will be missed by all who had the good fortune to have known him. He is survived by his loving wife Helen, by his children Rita, Denise, James, and Carol, and by his eight grandchildren.

Edwin S. Monuki, M.D., Ph.D., Chair
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine