Founders' Award

Established by The American Society of Dermatopathology in 1983 in honor of the Founding Members of the Society, this endowed award is conceived to recognize individuals who have made outstanding original and significant contributions to the field of dermatopathology.

Congratulations to the 2020 Founders’ Award Recipient

Joan Guitart, MD
Professor of Dermatology and Pathology. Director of the Dermatopathology Unit, Multidisciplinary Cutaneous Lymphoma Clinic and Co-Director of the NIH-funded Skin Disease Research Center Pathology Core

Dr. Guitart’s research is largely focused on cutaneous lymphomas ranging from epidemiology, molecular and pathology studies. He is past-president of the International Society of Cutaneous Lymphomas and the Chicago Dermatological Society, and former chair of the Scientific Assembly Committee of the American Academy of Dermatology.  His leadership roles in the field includes organizing large multicenter studies that resulted in refining and redefining our understanding of various lymphomas and precursor lesions, mostly focusing on cytotoxic lymphomas. He also proposed defining criteria and description of numerous poorly understood conditions unified under the rubric of cutaneous T-cell dyscrasias as a concept that includes conditions like parapsoriasis, follicular mucinosis and atypical lymphocytic lobular panniculitis. More recently his group has focused research in exploring the genomic landscape of cutaneous lymphomas, in particular follicular B-cell lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and cytotoxic T-cell lymphoma. Dr. Guitart’s team was one of the first to identify the high level of staphylococcal colonization in mycosis fungoides suggesting decolonization as a key treatment intervention. Their observation that CD4+ CTCL progression is accelerated by staphylococcal infections is presently being investigated by his team as they explore the microbiome of various CTCL subtypes. His team also reported a high incidence of GI tract pathology and autoimmunity in marginal zone lymphomas and androgenetic alopecia in follicular B-cell lymphomas and they recently completed a large series of CD30 lymphoproliferative disorders with emphasis on defining the natural course of the disease and comorbidities of all lymphomatoid papulosis subtypes.  

Past Recipients of the Founders' Award

2019	Philip H. McKee, MD, FRCPath
2018	James W. Patterson, MD
2017	Clifton R. White, MD
2016	Christopher R. Shea, MD
2015	Lorenzo Cerroni, MD
2014	Thomas D. Horn, MD
2013	Dirk M. Elston, MD
2012	Ronald P. Rapini, MD
2011	Raymond L. Barnhill, MD
2010	Daniel J. Santa Cruz, MD
2009	Antoinette F. Hood, MD
2008	Jag Bhawan, MD
2007	Wilma F. Bergfeld, MD, FACP
2006	Ronald J. Barr, MD
2005	David D. Weedon, AO, MD, FRCPA
2004	Philip E. LeBoit, MD
2003	Ernst H. Beutner, PhD
2002	John C. Maize, MD
2001	Franz M. Enzinger, MD
2000	Waine C. Johnson, MD
1999	Loren E. Golitz, MD
1998	Martin C. Mihm, Jr., MD
1997	Edward Wilson Jones, FRCP, FRCPath
1996	John R. Haserick, MD
1995	Herbert Z. Lund, MD
1993	Richard J. Reed, MD
1992	John T. Headington, MD
1991	Robert G. Freeman, MD
1990	James H. Graham, MD
1989	A. Bernard Ackerman, MD
1988	Wallace H. Clark, Jr., MD
1987	Richard K. Winkelmann, MD
1986	Walter F. Lever, MD
1985	Elson B. Helwig, MD
1984	Hermann Pinkus, MD