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I am writing with the sad news that Dr. Martin Iguchi, Ph.D., a pillar in our Division and scientific community, passed away on Saturday June 5, 2021. Dr. Iguchi earned his PhD in experimental psychology from Boston University in 1986 and established himself as a major leader in our field over the past several decades. As his CV demonstrates, he led research in several impactful areas that included HIV research, treatment access for minority individuals, and expansion of care for persons with OUD and alcohol. His collective work spanned the spectrum from understanding mechanistic foundations of substance use to treatment implementation. Despite his strong science, Dr. Iguchi may have been equally well-known for being an exemplary scientific citizen. He has served in every capacity, including study sections, committee memberships, board of director and advisory board positions, and editorial roles. He also shared his wisdom through teaching, mentoring numerous junior scientists in predoctoral, post-doctoral, and early career roles, and his service on dissertation and promotion committees, earning awards for his prowess in this area. In recent years he had established himself as a policy leader who could be relied upon to help advocate for the advancement of research and care for persons with substance use disorder, producing a lasting legacy on our field.
Dr. Iguchi was particularly committed to the work of APA and Division 28. He achieved Fellow status of our division in 2000 and was a fellow of Divisions 6, 9, and 50 as well. He was the 2004 Division 28 Convention Chair, Member-at-Large for Division 50, member of the Board of Professional Affairs, member of an APA task force to make changes to the convention that would appeal to scientists, a member of the Board of Scientific Affairs, on the Health Disparities Steering Committee, on the Committee of Psychology of AIDS, and on the Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Practice. As a result of his profound contributions to the field, Dr. Iguchi was awarded an APA Presidential Citation in 2019 (a prestigious honor reserved for only a small number of outstanding psychologists).
Dr. Iguchi was well-known at APA Consolidated Meetings as well as other professional organizational meetings, and always approached people with a smile and kind words. His welcoming demeanor and breadth of expertise made him an ideal ambassador for our science and his veracity in advocating for the use of science to advance public policy no doubt benefited countless numbers of patients and scientists. He represents the type of scientist we all aspire to become and will be dearly missed.
More about his work is available here https://www.rand.org/about/people/i/iguchi_martin_y.html and his APA Presidential citation is available here: https://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/citation/martin-iguchi
Please also see the following thoughts from our Divisional member and past President Dr. Maxine Stitzer
"I first met Martin Iguchi in the late 80's when he worked as a Postdoc at the BPRU on studies conducted in our methadone research clinic. Over the years, he became a friend as well as a valued colleague and he will be sorely missed in both roles. Martin was enthusiastic, passionate, and optimistic about life. He was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer 5 years ago, and at that time, given a prognosis of one year. He looked at the life he loved and chose to forge ahead. He loved his work in addictions research and he loved his wife, Beth and their children Benjamin and Sarah. He chose to pursue his research projects vigorously until he physically could no longer, contributing his wisdom to the important public health issues of the day and the research that underpins sensible policy.
Maybe it was his positive attitude- these things are unknowable- but Martin beat the odds and stayed in this world, fighting his disease, for 5 long years after that first bleak prognosis. We called him the "medical miracle". In the end, of course, the cancer won. But Martin's attitude was truly admirable. He accepted his diagnosis and was forthright with friends about the process of the illness and its treatment, all the while continuing to work and to enjoy his life.
Meanwhile, Beth was beside him offering her support. They were a team, Martin and Beth, and I know it's hard for her to imagine her life without him. Because I grew up in Los Angeles where Duncan and I visited frequently, we would always stop to see Martin and Beth in Santa Monica and bask in their gracious hospitality. Nothing fancy mind you, but they were always pleased to see us and to share a meal in the house or the backyard. I have a fond memory of taking my elderly mother with us on one or two of these visits and seeing her entertained by Martin and Beth's friendly company. Our world will be a lesser place without Martin; we will greatly miss his enthusiasm, energy, passion, wisdom and friendship. Farewell, dear friend and colleague."- Dr. Maxine Stitzer
Kelly Dunn, Ph.D., M.B.A.
Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
5510 Nathan Shock Drive
Baltimore, MD 21224
P:410-550-2254; F:410-550-0030
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