Dr. Shinichi Matsumoto was 14 years old when he decided his mission in life was to help people.
He was in junior high school, and his father had recently died of cancer. “At that time, I decided to become a doctor so I could cure an incurable disease. And that’s the reason I still do what I do.”
Dr. Matsumoto is Director of Islet Cell Research at Baylor All Saints Medical Center, and the world's only islet cell transplant researcher to have performed an islet cell transplant from a living donor into the pancreas of another person in the hopes that the beta cells would begin to make and release insulin and help people with type 1 diabetes.
Helping people was one of the first things on his mind when he was visiting Tokyo on March 11, 2011. He was on vacation in his home country with his family when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit. Thankfully, the hotel where he was staying wasn’t heavily damaged, but it took his wife and daughter, who were on an outing, hours to get back to the hotel because the trains stopped running for five hours. Once he knew his family was safe, his thoughts turned to helping those in need.
“Even though I’ve been in the U.S. for a long time, I’m a Japanese citizen. When I experienced the earthquake, I knew I wanted to help and do something.”
Dr. Matsumoto was scheduled to lecture at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine during the trip, but his lecture was cancelled because of the earthquake. However, his contacts at the university asked him if he could help them gather supplies to send to hospitals located in the hardest-hit areas.
When Dr. Matsumoto returned to the United States, he partnered with others at Baylor Health Care System to get supplies over to Japan to help the victims.
It wasn’t a simple task. Each separate piece of equipment shipped to Japan — hundreds of items — needed documentation. Dr. Matsumoto was able to help with the red tape required to get supplies into the country. The group sent beds, masks, gowns, and medical devices to the University of Tokyo, and from there the items were sent on to five or six hospitals in need.
As of April 24, 2011, there were 14,294 confirmed deaths from the earthquake and tsunami, and 12,026 people were still missing. “The Japanese people are very discouraged about this situation,” says Dr. Matsumoto. “They want to recover. But many people don’t know how to do that.”
Dr. Matsumoto grew up in Osaka, graduated from Kobe University School of Medicine in 1988, and received a Ph.D. from Kobe University Graduate School in 1996. He has studied at islet transplant centers in Minneapolis and Seattle. “In 2005 I was asked to give a lecture at Baylor. I thought Baylor was very advanced clinically.” He was hired by Baylor All Saints Medical Center in 2006. In addition to being impressed with Baylor, he also liked the weather. “I was in Minneapolis, and it was cold there. Then I moved to Seattle and it rained all the time. But when I moved to Texas, it wasn’t bad at all!”
While Japan is actively recovering, he says the needs are ongoing, and people are very discouraged. Dr. Matsumoto plans to return to Japan this summer. “I want to lecture to the medical students in the Tokyo area — to encourage them,” he says.
He says he’s very grateful for those who have helped his home country after the earthquake. “I am very thankful for the U.S. help — including the help from Baylor. All of the Japanese people are thankful.”
To contact Dr. Matsumoto, e-mail him at shinichi41@mac.com.