American psoriasis foundation honours alumnus with Lifetime Achievement award
- By Wits University
The National Psoriasis Foundation based in Portland, Oregon, presented Dr Alan Menter with a Lifetime Achievement award at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting on 4 February 2011 in Ohio. The award was given in recogition of his leadership and innovation in advancing research and treatment options for psoriasis, a chronic disease of the immune system that manifests on the skin.
Chair of the dematology department at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, Menter (MBBCh 1966) has served the psoriasis community for more than three decades. Among his many accomplishments, Menter co-authored the first gene discovery study for psoriasis in 1994 and has been involved in extensive research on treatments for the disease.
Menter was instrumental in creating the Psoriasis Foundation Tissue Bank – now the National Psoriasis Victor Henschel BioBank – which is a collection of biological samples and clinical information used by scientists to further the field of psoriasis genetics. Menter served as its clinical director for seven years until 2002.
Psoriasis Foundation president and CEO, Randy Beranek said that Menter had improved understanding of the seriousness of psoriasis and encouraged the next generation of dermatologists to study psoriasic disease. The future of psoriasis care is much more promising due to Menter’s efforts, he said.
Menter received the award with the chairman emeritus of the National Psoriasis Foundation medical board, Professor Gerald Krueger from the University of Utah Medical School.
Story and image source: National Psoriasis Foundation