Dr. Hideo Henry Itabashi

July 7, 1926 - December 19, 2014 July 7, 1926 - December 19, 2014 Dr. Hideo Henry Itabashi passed away at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes on December 19, 2014, after a battle with cancer. Dr. Itabashi was born on July 7, 1926, in Los Angeles, CA to parents who immigrated from a northern prefecture of Tokyo, Japan. He attended high school in Los Angeles, and during this time, was one of the Japanese-Americans who were interned in a camp at Gila River, Arizona in 1942. After completing high school, he attended Boston University for 2 years until he was drafted in the U.S. Army during WW II in the MIS (Military Intelligence Service), and served as an interpreter during the war trials in the Philippines. Subsequently, he returned to Boston University where he completed his B.A. in philosophy. After attending Yale University for one year, he went on to earn his medical degree from Boston University. During his medical studies, he met his wife, Yoko Osawa, and they were subsequently married in Boston, MA. He joined University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, as a resident specializing in neurology, and an instructor. From 1958 to 1960, he worked as an Associate Research Neurologist on the Cerebral Palsy Research Project at University of California Medical Center, San Francisco. In 1960 to 1965, he served as Associate Neuropathologist at Langly Porter Neuropsychiatric Clinic in San Francisco, and later as Assistant Professor in Neurology. Since 1971, Dr. Itabashi acted as Head of Neuropathology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and from 1990 to 1991, was appointed Acting Chairman for the Department of Pathology. He further served as Associate Professor, Professor, and later Emeritus Professor in pathology and neurology at UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Itabashi also obtained seven research grants, one of which required brain autopsies on victims of motorcycle fatalities in Los Angeles County. This project helped implement the federal law in the later 1990's which required motorcyclists to wear helmets resulting in a major decrease in motorcycle fatalities. One of his later key accomplishments in neuropathology was his book that he wrote, with co-authors Drs. Andrews, Tomiyasu, Erlich, and Sathyavagiswaran called, "Forensic Neuropathology." Since published in 2007, it has been used to teach medical students. After he retired from Harbor-UCLA in 1993, he was soon hired as Deputy Medical Examiner and Consultant in Neuropathology, Department of Coroner for the County of Los Angeles, where he performed approximately 9000 brain autopsies during the next 20 years, and was hired as a medical expert at depositions and trials. On a personal level, he enjoyed fishing, hiking, gardening, and traveling to Japan. Dr. Itabashi is survived by his children Helen, and Mark, his grandchildren Christina and Michelle, and his nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his wife, Yoko. He was a brilliant and generous individual, and physician who will be greatly missed. Services were held on Sun., Jan. 4, 2015, at Fukui Mortuary, and the burial on January 5, 2015, at Green Hills Cemetery in Palos Verdes. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Dr. Hideo Itabashi to Harbor-UCLA, Department of Pathology, Residency Program, or Division of Neuropathology.