This portrait gives an overview of Prof. Wilfred Y. Fujimoto who received the Per Björntorp/Jean Vague Lecture Award at the annual scientific meeting of the ICCR academic board held in Boston, Massachusetts in 2009. His major contributions pertain to research conducted in Japanese Americans looking at the pivotal role of body fat distribution, especially intra-abdominal (visceral) adipose tissue to the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic diseases in that population. Using computed tomography as a tool to evaluate body fat distribution, Prof. Fujimoto’s team demonstrated that an increased intra-abdominal adiposity was associated with the development of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.
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