Press Release
Media Contact: Tammy McCoy
(404) 633-3777, ext. 805
Arthritis News
Harris Receives Distinguished
Rheumatologist Award from American College of Rheumatology
Edward D. Harris, Jr., MD, George DeForest Barnett Professor
of Medicine Emeritus at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California,
received the Distinguished Rheumatologist Award from the American
College of Rheumatology during the ACR Annual Scientific Meeting,
Oct. 16-21 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Distinguished Rheumatologist Award is awarded each year
to an ACR member who has made outstanding contributions in the
areas of patient care, clinical scholarship or service to benefit
patients with rheumatic diseases. This year, the ACR has chosen
two worthy recipients for this award.
Dr. Harris's academic career began with training at Dartmouth
and Harvard, and continued with positions on the faculty of Dartmouth,
Rutgers, and finally Stanford, where he has been since 1987.
With his mentor, Dr. Steve Krane, at MGH, Dr. Harris began his
research career aimed at defining the mechanisms of tissue destruction
in rheumatoid arthritis, proving his hypothesis that the rheumatoid
pannus acts as a locally invasive malignancy. At Dartmouth,
he enjoyed 12 years of NIH funding, where with his colleagues
he conducted research into the nature of MMP and biosynthesis,
and began studies that his co-workers have continued into the
molecular genetics governing MMP expression.
Dr. Harris chaired the ARA (now the ACR) Scientific Workshops
Committee and the Clubs and Councils Committee before serving
as President of the ARA (1985 – 1986), where with his predecessors
he undertook the task of separating the ARA from the Arthritis
Foundation in 1986. Dr. Harris now serves the ACR as its representative
to the Bone and Joint Decade International Steering Committee.
He has recently been elected to Fellowship in the Royal College
of Physicians in London , and is also the Governor of the Northern
California Chapter of the ACP. In 2002, Dr. Harris was elected
a Master of the ACR. The designation of ACR Master is conferred
on members (over the age of 65) of high professional competence,
ethics, and moral standing who have significantly furthered the
art and science of rheumatology.
The American College of Rheumatology is the professional organization
for rheumatologists and health professionals who share a dedication
to healing, preventing disability and curing arthritis and related
rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
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