Tsuneya Ikezu, M.D., a UNMC faculty member whose research focuses on
Alzheimers disease, has been recognized as the second recipient of the
Vada Kinman Oldfield Alzheimers Research Fund.
Col. Barney Oldfield USAF (ret.) presented Dr. Ikezu with the $10,000
award during a ceremony in front of the University Geriatric Center. Later,
Oldfield and Dr. Ikezu helped unveil a memorial to Vada inside the UGC
building. Vadas 11-year battle with Alzheimers disease ended in 1999.
Following her death, Col. Oldfield established the research fund at UNMC
in his wifes honor. The funds first $10,000 recipient, Vince Thomas,
Ph.D., also helped unveil the memorial at the ceremony. The fund is administered
through the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Dr. Ikezu joined the UNMC faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor
in the Department of Pathology/Microbiology. He also is deputy director
in the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders.
A native of Tokyo, Japan, Dr. Ikezu focuses his research on the molecular
mechanisms of the inflammatory reactions that occur in Alzheimers disease.
Dr. Ikezus research looks at how anti-inflammatory drugs can slow the
onset and suppress the progression of Alzheimers disease. Presently, many
anti-inflammatory treatments have significant side effects, especially
in the elderly. It is anticipated that further research, such as Dr. Ikezus
and other ongoing Alzheimers research at UNMC, will yield safer and more
specific anti-inflammatory medicines than those now available.
Dr. Ikezu earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Tokyo
College of Science and Arts, and in 1991 received his medical degree from
the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine.
In 1992, Dr. Ikezu was appointed a research fellow in Immunology/Arthritis,
working at the Veteran Medical Center of the University of California,
San Francisco. From 1994 to 1997, he worked as a fellow in anesthesiology
at at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. From 1997
to 1999, Dr. Ikezu was a post-doctoral research fellow in neurosciences
at Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation of Ohio.
In the latter part of 1999, he obtained his faculty appointment at UNMC.
Each year, Col. Oldfield contributes $20,000 to support the fund that
honors his wife.
Col. Oldfield and his wife both graduated in 1933 from the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln. To date, the Oldfields have given more than $4 million
to various scholarship funds and programs.
A native of Tecumseh, Neb., Col. Oldfield had a successful career
in the U.S. Air Force as a communications officer, then entered private
industry as a public relations executive for Litton Industries in Woodland
Hills, Calif. He is a legend in the public relations field and counts many
celebrities as close personal friends, including former President Ronald
Reagan and boxer George Foreman. Among his many honors, Oldfield received
the Distiguished Service Award from the U.S. Radio & Television News
Directors Association.
Vada Oldfield was a member of the Womens Auxiliary Army Corps during
World War II and served in Africa, Sicily and Italy as a teletype operator
in the U.S. Air Forces communications section. She served a total of 24
months overseas. Her name is listed on a monument dedicated to women in
military service at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington,
D.C. Both the Oldfields are featured in the Celebrities in Uniform Section
of the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
At last weeks ceremony, Col. Oldfield vowed unending support for scientists
in their search for a cure to the disease. I want you to know that no
matter where hope for easing, halting, curing may lead you, Vada and I
will be at your side with substance and support never ending, he said.
Alzheimers disease affects nearly 80,000 Nebraskans, according to the
states Alzheimers Association chapter. Those sufferers could fill Memorial
Stadium in Lincoln.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Vada Kinman Oldfield Alzheimers Research
Fund at the NU Foundation, P.O. Box 82555, Lincoln, NE 68501.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment, solid organ transplantation and arthritis.
During the past year, nearly $31 million in research grants and contracts
were awarded to UNMC scientists, and UNMCs funding from the National Institutes
of Health increased by 28 percent, going from $16.2 million to $20.7 million.
UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals
practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.