Prof. Shigekoto Kaihara Passed Away

We regret to inform everyone that another valued colleague has passed away. Prof. Shigekoto Kaihara, who was IMIA President from 1986-1989, and formerly professor of medical informatics at Tokyo University, passed away suddenly on 12 January, 2011.

JAMI, the Japan Association for Medical Informatics, has prepared a site for people to leave messages of condolence: https://www.jami.jp/condolence_eng/

Messages left here, together with all messages already received, will be given to Mrs. Hisayo Kaihara MD.

Michio Kimura, current APAMI President, has kindly acted on IMIA’s behalf, representing us at the funeral, held at Zojoji temple, Shiba, Tokyo on 17 January, 2011, and conveying to the family the many messages of condolence that have been sent. Some pictures and a biography of Prof. Kaihara are at http://www.mi.hama-med.ac.jp/jami/prof_S_Kaihara.html

Kai, as he was known to many, has been described a a giant in the field of medical informatics, having great influence on medical informatics in his own country and internationally. He steered IMIA through a period of significant change. He was the first person from the Asia region to become IMIA President, and was also one of the first international fellows elected by the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) in 1998.

Kai was SPC chair for Medinfo95, and an editorial committee member for the proceedings of Medinfo 80. He remained active within IMIA and internationally for many years, including most recently being an active member of the IMIA Financial Review Committee.

POST UPDATED ON 20 JANUARY, 2011 (from original of 12 January)