Jose Ignacio Choca, M.D., Ph.D. (?-1994) Assistant Professor of Pharmacology University of Illinois College of Medicine

In his brief career, Jose I Choca, M.D., Ph.D., was recognized as an exceptional educator at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Not only did he make his subject understandable, but his enthusiasm and energy inspired his students, who gave him the "Golden Apple" teaching award in 1992, 1993, and 1994. In addition, his students' scores on the National Board Examinations in Pharmacology climbed, establishing that Dr. Choca's teaching skills were far more substantive than simply winning student popularity Dr. Choca worked hard to help disadvantaged students with academic difficulties. He held special review sessions for Urban Health students that proved so popular, they were opened to all medical students. He also organized a basic science review to prepare students for the medical licensing examination. Dr. Choca also contributed much to the Hispanic community. He was a member of the Hispanic Center of Excellence at the college of medicine, helping to write a proposal for NIH funding for the center. He instructed Latin American-trained physicians through the Physicians Review Program at the Alivio Medical Center, and was an honorary faculty member of the La Raza Medical Student Association, from which he received two awards. A native of Havana, Cuba, Dr. Choca came to Chicago as a child and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1968. He received his B.A. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1981, and, following a brief period of work, entered medical school at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He was admitted to the Pharmacology M.D./Ph.D. program in 1982 and became an active researcher, publishing a series of papers that developed methods for discriminating adenosine receptor subtypes in the brain, and succeeded in demonstrating their localization in specific sensory pathways. These findings pointed toward a role for these receptors in sensory processing, a concept still being pursued by other researchers in the field. He completed his Ph.D. in 1988 and his M.D. in 1989. He was accepted at the University of California, Los Angeles, for a residency in neurology, but, upon learning that he was HIV-positive, made the decision to resign his medical residency to pursue a career in teaching and research. He accepted a position as a postdoctoral trainee in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Illinois and was promptly given the opportunity to teach medical students as well as pursue his research interests. He became a research assistant professor in 1991 and an assistant professor in 1993. Dr. Choca was preparing to begin teaching in the fall, but he became acutely ill and died on August 25, 1994.