Toru Kono, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, FASCRS.

(1955-2021)

 

The International Society for Digestive Surgery has lost one of its Executive Council members. Dr. Toru Kono on November 9 lost his battle with hepatobiliary cancer. Dr. Kono was heavily involved with the society and joined the Executive Council in 2019. Dr. Kono was known to the international scientific community for his revolutionary anastomotic technique for Crohn’s Disease, the Kono-S anastomosis. After graduating residency he spent three years at the University of Tennessee in Memphis in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology before returning to Japan where he spent his entire career on the island of Hokkaido, where he was born, first at the Asahikawa Medical College and more recently at the Sapporo Higashi Tokushukai Hospital. He taught inflammatory bowel disease surgeons around the globe important lessons and emphasized the role of surgical prophylaxis to prevent Crohn’s disease recurrence. His son Reo is currently following in his footsteps. He graduated from Hokkaido University School of Medicine last spring and is currently a resident at a hospital in Sapporo. His daughter Shiori is a gifted artist who has been drawing most of the published images on his anastomosis. The ISS and ISDS have lost an outstanding member. He was a brilliant mind, a gentle soul and a very dear friend. He will be missed.

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