His enthusiasm for science and his commitment to research remained remarkable, when over the next 15 years at the Cancer Research Institute, Etsuro brought together endocrinology, bone biology and cancer biology. From that position he led excellent work on the skeletal complications of cancer as well as on actions of calcium-regulating hormones. He made major intellectual and leadership contributions in doing this, contributing greatly to the development
of these areas and to the recruitment selleck products of excellent young scientists to the field of endocrine cancers and cancer-associated bone diseases. With experience and expertise such as this and clinical understanding and an intellect that equipped him with great insights into important clinical problems, his opinion was greatly sought by industry. He served as a scientific advisor and extramural executive member of the board of the Chugai Pharmaceutical Company for the last 7 years, where
his selleck inhibitor wisdom has been very greatly valued. He brought academic rigor of a high standard to industry research and had the company scientists carry out high-quality research, particularly with regard to vitamin D metabolism and the actions of analogs of active vitamin D, and to mechanisms of metastasis of cancer to bone. He was as demanding of scientists in the company as he was throughout his career of his fellows and students. They could see how beneficial that was and appreciated the opportunity to work with someone who knew so much and who transmitted such excitement and energy. In C-X-C chemokine receptor type 7 (CXCR-7) his time with Chugai, he was a leading figure in guiding the recent development of eldecalcitol to osteoporosis treatment as a new bone-active vitamin D compound. Etsuro’s leadership contributions extended beyond his students or research in his own institution. The senior executive positions in national and international societies, listed above, reflect the great international respect for him in the field
of endocrinology and bone research. He was a recipient of the IBMS-Elsevier Award from the IBMS in recognition of his distinguished career as scholar, educator, and leader in the bone and mineral field and service to IBMS. Etsuro was a man of great integrity, intellect, and scholarship and was loved by many friends and colleagues. He loved his wife Kohko so deeply and was very proud of his family and is survived by Kohko, daughters Makiko and Saeko, and a grandchild Makoto, to whom we offer deepest sympathy from Etsuro’s many colleagues and friends. “
“Since Frost’s introduction of the concept of the “mechanostat” [1], it has been accepted that bone mass and architecture are regulated in response to the local strains engendered in their tissue by functional loading.