May 7, 2001
Penn Physician Receives Prestigious
American Lung Association Award
The Trudeau Medal is given annually by the American
Thoracic Society for important contributions to the prevention
and treatment of tuberculosis.
(Philadelphia,
PA) -- Alfred P. Fishman, MD, professor emeritus of
medicine and senior associate dean for program development
at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,
has been named recipient of the prestigious Trudeau
Medal, the highest award offered by the American Thoracic
Society, a branch of the American Lung Association.
The award recognizes Fishman's excellence in original
research on the lungs, the control of breathing in health
and disease, and on normal and abnormal pulmonary circulation.
This research has led to dramatic advances in the understanding
and treatment of related pulmonary diseases, such as
tuberculosis. It will be presented on May 20, 2001,
by Dr. Claude Lenfant, Director of the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes
of Health.
Internationally recognized as an expert in pulmonary
diseases, Fishman's research also includes the study
of the heart and kidneys, and the interplay of these
organs with the lungs. He has received the 'Gold Heart
Award' from the American Heart Association for his work
in this field. For his research on the kidneys -- which
led to the use of renal dialysis for kidney failure
-- he was awarded the A.N. Richards Distinguished Achievement
Award bestowed by the University of Pennsylvania. As
an educator, he has trained numerous stellar researchers
and clinicians in contemporary pulmonary research and
medicine: these former students now practice throughout
the United States.
Fishman's scientific contributions have been honored
by memberships in numerous distinguished clinical and
scientific societies, councils, positions on many editorial
boards, and by his receipt of various awards. A prolific
writer, he has published over 300 original scientific
papers. His textbook, Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders,
is widely regarded by his peers as a classic. In addition
to his other activities, Fishman
is a past president of the College of Physicians of
Philadelphia. He currently serves as the chairman of
the steering committee of the National Emphysema Treatment
Trial, sponsored jointly by the National Institutes
of Health and the Health Care Finance Administration.
The Trudeau Award honors Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau,
who, in 1904, served as the first president of the American
Lung Association. Dr. Trudeau was among the first to
recognize tuberculosis as a contagious bacterial disease
and to use laboratory methods to identify its presence.
In 1924, a committee on research at the National Tuberculosis
Association recommended recognizing individuals who
made major contributions to research and clinical medicine
methods in identifying the presence of the disease.
Thus, the Trudeau Medal was created as both an expression
of peer recognition and a tribute to Dr. Trudeau.
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