The Biotherapeutics, Education & Research Foundation (BTER) Foundation was in the news again. The Los Angeles Times’s list of 2022 “Orange County Visionaries ”includes our very own Director and Board Chair, Ronald A. Sherman, MD.
Dr. Sherman was included amongthe 54 individuals honored as education and non-profitvisionaries, due to his ground-breaking research inmaggot therapy for wound care, and his co-founding of the BTER Foundation. “Visionary” is an appropriate term, given the fact thatmaggot therapy was not being used or seriously considered anywhere in the world when Dr.Sherman began his clinicaltrials in 1989, yet today there are over two dozen laboratories distributing medicinal fly larvae to patients in over 30 countries. The BTERFoundation wasestablished in 2003 with the mission of advancing medical care through education and researchin biotherapy, which includesnot only maggot therapy but alsothe medical use of other liveanimals, such as honeybees, leeches, various roundworms, fish, dogs, horses, and more.
Indeed, all of the BTER Foundation’s directors, members, staff, volunteers, and donors– past and present– have been visionaries, pioneers, andleaders, advancing the field of biotherapy technology.