College of Veterinary Medicine mourns passing of longtime professor and researcher Dr. Masaaki Tamura
Long-time Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine professor Dr. Masaaki Tamura passed away, surrounded by family at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, following a sudden illness. A visitation was held Feb. 1 at Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home.
Dr. Tamura was born in Shiozawa, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Jan. 1, 1950, to parents Kyuichiro and Kan (Sato) Tamura. He grew up in a rice farming village in the middle of “Snow Country.” He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Kitasato University in 1973 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and nutrition from Azabu Veterinary College in 1980.
Dr. Tamura began his academic career as an assistant professor at Tokyo University Medical School before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1982 to pursue postdoctoral research in the Department of Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University. He continued there in lab management roles and as a research assistant professor until 2005, when he relocated to Manhattan, Kansas, to join the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. He was promoted to full Professor in 2018.
Dr. Masaaki "Masa" Tamura, DVM, Ph.D., was a dedicated and passionate scientist who devoted his 47-year career in biomedical research to improving human and animal health.
Dr. Tamura taught and supervised an active research lab at Kansas State until his recent sudden illness. Over the past three decades, he worked tirelessly in the fight against cancer, focusing on innovative approaches such as targeted gene therapy, applications of stem cells, cost-effective immunotherapies, and the discovery of natural products for cancer prevention and treatment. His scientific contributions also extended to studying the angiotensin II receptor and its role in heart disease and cancer.
“Dr. Tamura was an excellent scientist committed to solving the most important diseases of our time,” said Dr. Bonnie Rush, Hodes Family Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “He was generous with his expertise and time to provide mentoring to talented undergraduate and graduate students. They will serve as his legacy.”
Dr. Tamura introduces the keynote speaker for the 2023 Clarenburg Lecture, Dr. Ellen Puré.
Dr. Tamura was a prolific scholar who coauthored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications and nearly 30 conference talks and posters. At K-State, he secured over $2 million in external grants for cancer research as principal or co-principal investigator, including awards from the National Cancer Institute, Midwest Biomedical Accelerator Consortium, Kansas IDEA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE), Kansas Bioscience Authority, Johnson Cancer Research Center and Fan Family Foundation. His outstanding achievements earned him a Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation Scholar award from K-INBRE.
Dr. Tamura, or “Masa,” as he was known to students and colleagues, was a beloved mentor to numerous trainees and junior faculty, including 39 undergraduate students, six graduate students and seven postdoctoral researchers who worked in his lab. Many of these students have gone on to successful careers as veterinarians and scientists. Although he was planning to retire this summer, Dr. Tamura was still supervising an active research lab at the time of his illness.
Dr. Tamura was Damilola Gbore's research mentor in the Veterinary Research Scholars Program in the summer of 2021.
Known for his kindness and generosity, Dr. Tamura enjoyed treating his group members and collaborators to semester-end lunches at Manhattan sushi restaurants, as well as to canoe trips on the Big Blue River and get-togethers at his home.
On Oct. 5, 1997, Dr. Tamura married Pamela Jo Horton. He has three daughters and a son. Masa had a green thumb and loved to garden, do yardwork, travel, ski, snorkel, sing, and read. In his college days, he was a sailor, motorcyclist and guitarist/lead singer in a band. He was dedicated to promoting the Japanese community in Manhattan and loved traveling home often to visit family in Japan.