| Upon my return from Christmas vacation, I was very delighted to read about
your recent recognition with the AAPS Distinguished Pharmaceutical Scientist
Award. It could not have gone to a more deserving individual! Your research
record is unparalleled. In addition, I believe that one of your greatest,
but perhaps least appreciated, contributions to the field has been your
mentoring and promotion of young faculty within and outside of Japan. I
for one certainly feel a great deal of gratitude to you for your support
of my career. I remember with great fondness the invitation for me to speak
at the Pharmacokinetics and Biopharmaceutics meeting in Hiroshima a decade
ago, and subsequent visits to Tokyo and Osaka over the intervening years.
That first trip to Japan in 1994 was a major milestone for a struggling
young scientist from Seattle and helped me coalesce my research interests
at the time into what proved to be the critically important area of intestinal
drug metabolism. I will always be in your debt. I hope that your future
is filled with many more exciting research discoveries and accolades such
as the AAPS award. With the very best regards, Ken Kenneth E. Thummel, PhD Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics Associate Dean for Research and New Initiatives, School of Pharmacy |