The 58th Annual Howard Fox MD Memorial Lecture on March 13, 2012 provided by Torello M. Lotti MD, Professor and Vice Chancellor, Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi in Rome, and past President, International Society of Dermatology, continued a valued New York City educational tradition. It honors the memory of Howard Fox MD in the New York Academy of Medicine’s historic building on Fifth Avenue opposite Central Park on Manhattan’s ‘‘Museum Mile’’.

Howard Fox MD (1873-1954) was the founding father and first president of the American Academy of Dermatology. This extraordinary dermatologist served for 13 years as professor and head of dermatology at the New York University School of Medicine (1925-1938). He was also the first president of the American Board of Dermatology, and Editor-in-Chief of the Archives of Dermatology.

The 58th Annual Fox Lecturer Prof. Lotti highlighted medical progress in an erudite presentation, “Vitiligo: What's New – Update in 2012”. He espoused new and experimental therapies, such as narrow-band ultraviolet B microphototherapy, narrow-band ultraviolet B excimer laser and monochromatic excimer light. He also promulgated new topical options such as antioxidants, tacrolimus and pimecrolimus, prostaglandin E, and vitamin D derivatives, evincing that excellent therapeutic results can be achieved through combination treatments. His dynamic talk elicited accolades from faculty, residents, and medical students.

The New York Academy of Medicine is a perfect site for this endowned lectureship. It was founded in 1847 by a group of idealistic New York City metropolitan area physicians and moved to its current location in 1926, a then newly constructed six story Romanesque building and true Manhattan architectural treasure with exterior walls of a variety of types of pastel limestone and sandstone. This edifice houses a library containing more than 550,000 volumes, one of the largest medical collections in the United States. The Academy has over 3,000 Fellows dedicated to maintaining and improving urban health. The Dermatology Section, led academic year 2011-2012 by Robert A. Schwartz MD, MPH as President and Jacob Levitt MD as Secretary, hailed this Howard Fox Lecture as uniting New York dermatology.

The PowerPoint presentation with the Lecture is available for download (PDF file, 3.9 MB)

Honoring Prof. Lotti: European Academy of Dermatology President Jana Hercogová, Yan Valle, Vincent A. Cipollaro, Steven R. Cohen, Jacob Levitt, Michael Fisher, Torello M. Lotti, and Robert A. Schwartz (left to right)