Ritsuko Komaki , MD , FACR – 2001 President of AAWR,
2005 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Awardee

Teacher, Researcher, and Clinician

I am a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Gloria Lupton Tennison Distinguished Endowed Professor for the Lung Cancer Research at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. I was the AAWR President 2001 and have received the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award in 2005. I have also, received an award medal-commemorating centenary of discovery of Radium from the Society in Tribute to Maria Sklodowska-Curie. This award was given to me based on my activity promoting achievements of Marie Sklodowska-Curie and personal achievements in Radiation Oncology on August 24, 2006.

I was raised in Hiroshima where I met Ms. Sadako Sasaki at age 10-years-old who developed acute granulocytic leukemia due to the exposure from the Atomic Bomb at her infancy. Sadako’s death at 11 years old triggered my decision to become researcher and physician of malignancy. I have worked with Sadako’s older brother and classmates to create “ the Sadako’s Memorial Statue” which is standing at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima where thousands of origami crane birds have been sent from all over the world to pray the Peace in the World. The Origami Crane is the symbol of “Happiness and Longevity” and that we will recover from illness and tragedy if we fold one thousand of Origami Cranes. I still teach 10 th or 11 th grade school children about Sadako and how to fold Origami Cranes. Sadako’s legacy lives in me and the AAWR has recognized my legacy, which I deeply appreciated.

What has changed about your career and self-perception since you were younger? If you could go back and speak to your younger self, what piece of wisdom would you share?

When I faced Sadako’s death due to Leukemia when she and I were at age of 11 years old, this event has changed my perception of the life of human beings. Ms. Sadako Sasaki was one of my friends at the elementary school and we used to compete for running in the fall athletic meeting. She became short of breath and was found to have Acute Granulocytic Leukemia, which was most likely caused by the exposure of Atomic Bomb when she was an infant.

I would like to give a message to younger generation that we should not repeat the war and we all have to give up the nuclear weapons. Incredible number of people would be suffered by more recent nuclear weapons, which would not be due to only immediate death, but also deaths due to malignancies and cardio/vascular effects due to the exposure to the radiation several years to forever after the exposure. The other message to younger generation is that when we face any tragedy, we have to think about how to turn around to make it better or positive. We did not want to waste Sadako’s death. We wanted to do something for positive, so she would have been proud of us.

Who had the biggest influence on your career?

My parents had the biggest influence on my career. My parents have lost everything due to the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima except their children and their own lives. They told me that education was the only one thing they could give us, since they were so poor financially. Both of my parents were well-educated couple in a different way. My father was self-taught person from a family of Sake Brewery and among 12 children He was the youngest child and his father died when he was 10 years old. He supported himself to go to the Kyoto University, which is one of the most prestigious Universities in Japan. He had been on the way to be the top of CEO in one of conglomerate companies, but the second war made him to change his job to help his family in Hiroshima.

On the other hand, my mother came from Samurai family. Her father was well known was the member of the cabinet in the Agriculture, then a secretary of the Mr. Asano who was the Lord of Hiroshima prefecture. My mother read all European and Asian histories by 7 years old and was supported by maids and secretaries for her father. The second war and A-Bomb have changed my parents’ life tremendously, but influenced my thinking and career development as well as my fiend’s death.

Ritsuko Komaki
I am surrounded by my supporters: Back row, from the left-hand side: Charles Washington (Director of the Radiation Oncology Clinical Operation, MDACC), Mitch Latinkic (Senior Administrative Director of Radiation Oncology at MDACC), Michael Gillin, Ph.D. (Deputy Chair of Medical Physics at MDACC), and James D. Cox. M.D. (Head of Radiation Oncology, MDACC, Husband of Dr. Komaki), Kasia Macura, M.D., Ph.D. (President of AAWR). Front row, from the left-hand side: Zhongxing Liao, M.D. (AAWR Chair of Radiation Oncology who nominated Dr. Komaki to receive the AAWR MSC award), Lena Tang (Administrative assistant at the Proton Center), Ritsuko Komaki, M.D. (AAWR MSC award recipient), Nancy Ellerbroeck, M.D. (AAWR President elect), Jang Zhang, M.D. (Post-doc fellow at MDACC from Beijing supported by RSNA research grant and AAWR international member) and Janet Strife, M.D. (recipient of AAWR Alice Ettinger Award).

Ritsuko Komaki , MD, FACR is Professor of Radiation Oncology and Gloria Lupton Tennison Distinguished Endowed Professor for the Lung Cancer Research at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston