William S. Baer Award for Outstanding Service in the Advancement of Biotherapy.
William S. Baer Award for Outstanding Service in the Advancement of Biotherapy.
CONGRATULATIONS to them ALL!!!
 David Armstrong, MD, DPM, PhD Tucson, Arizona | Dr. David Armstrong was born on February 18, 1969. In 1989, he graduated from Occidental College, and then continued onto the California College of Podiatric Medicine in 1989 and the University of Manchester College of Medicine in 2004. He holds a Masters of Science in Tissue Repair and Wound Healing from the University of Wales College of Medicine and a PhD from the University of Manchester College of Medicine, where he was appointed Visiting Professor of Medicine. Currently, Dr. Armstrong is Professor of Surgery at the University of Arizona. He co-founded the Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA), and he is the founder and co-chair of the International Diabetic Foot Conference (DF-Con), the largest annual international symposium on the diabetic foot. Additionally, he is the co-editor of the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Clinical Care of the Diabetic Foot, past Chair of Scientific Sessions for the ADA’s Foot Care Council, a past member of the National Board of Directors of the ADA, and a former commissioner with the Illinois State Diabetes Commission. To date, he has produced more than 280 peer-reviewed research papers in over two dozen scholarly medical journals. | |
 John Church, MD, FRCSE Bucks, United Kingdom | Dr. John Church is a key figure in the Biotherapy movement. During a fateful meeting with Dr. Ronald Sherman in January 1994, he coined the very name “biotherapy.” At the time, these two dreamed of the International Institute of Biotherapy, which was realized one year later as the International Biotherapy Society (IBS). A Founding Member of the IBS, John Church became its first President: 1996 – 1998. Dr. Church was instrumental in recognizing and bringing other biotherapies into the fold, including bee venom therapy, leech therapy, canine olfactory detection, and helmintherapy. Dr. Church has traveled extensively as a “biotherapy ambassador,” generating interest and support within the conventional and traditional sectors of health care. When Dr. Church was honored several years ago by Johns Hopkins Department of Orthopedic Surgery, which invited him to present the “William S. Baer Memorial Lecture in Orthopedics,” he lectured about maggot therapy and biotherapy. | |
Pam Mitchell Akron, Ohio | Pam Mitchell began her “career” in maggot therapy after doctors told her she needed to have her feet amputated due to diabetic foot ulcers that had progressed to infect the bone (“osteomyelitis”). Pam discovered Dr. Ronald Sherman’s work with maggot debridement therapy and insisted that this therapy be used before she lost her limbs. As she had hoped, the therapy worked, and her feet were saved. Empathetic to the plight of others in similar situations, Pam helped found the BioTherapeutics, Education & Research (BTER) Foundation, where she currently sits on the Board of Directors and serves as the Foundation’s Patient Advocate. She donates grants, especially in the field of Patient Assistance, so others have the opportunity to save their limbs. Pam has also become a speaker advocating for maggot debridement therapy, giving countless interviews on television, the radio, and before Congress. She visits doctors to advocate for patients and teaches physicians and clinicians how to apply the dressings, which she has done for herself and others. Her tireless efforts, extensive knowledge, large patient and clinician following, and many hours of volunteer service make her a deserving recipient of the prestigious William S. Baer Award, which was named for a man who shared the same qualities. | |
 Eliot Mostow, MD, MPH Akron, Ohio | Dr. Eliot Mostow had the courage and wisdom to use biotherapy before it was popular and trendy. His modus operandi has always been to do what is best for his patients. When conventional therapy was no longer effective at treating those patients with problematic wounds, he has cautiously reached out for new modalities such as maggot therapy.
As he gained experience (and the respect of his community) using maggot therapy, he found himself in the role of teacher and preacher. In 1996, he founded the Wound Care Associates of Akron, Inc., and he has published numerous articles and research studies in dozens of peer-reviewed publications. Currently, he is Head of the Dermatology Section at Northeast Ohio University College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) and on the clinical faculty at Case Western University Department of Dermatology. He is also President of the Cleveland Dermatological Society. Dr. Mostow continues to be a mentor in biotherapy to this day. | |
 Kosta Mumcuoglu, PhD Jerusalem, Israel | Dr. Kosta Mumcuoglu began working with maggot therapy and biotherapy in the early days of the renaissance: 1993. He developed his own insectary and rearing techniques, convinced local doctors to allow him to treat their patients with maggots, and helped modernize the techniques that we now call “maggot debridement therapy.”
Dr. Mumcuoglu has also been a key figure in discovering the mechanisms by which medicinal maggots exert their therapeutic effects. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers on maggot debridement therapy (MDT) and hirudotherapy. Dr. Mumcuoglu was one of the Founding Members of the International Biotherapy Society, and led the organization as its President from 1998 – 2010. | |
 Aletha Tippett, MD, MCh Cincinnati, Ohio | Dr. Aletha Tippett was born on April 25, 1951 in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 1975, she graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1997, graduating first in her class. Since then, Dr. Tippett has worked as a family physician, focusing on holistic care, pain management, and wound care. Despite a full clinic schedule, she has given hundreds of lectures on wound care and volunteers in her community. She has also won numerous awards and has been acknowledged in the 2004-2009 editions of Guide to America’s Top Family Doctors. One of her most important contributions has been the integration of biotherapy into mainstream medicine in the United States . . . no small feat. Dr. Tippett has not only incorporated biotherapy into her own practice, but has also taught biotherapy and assisted other therapists. She remains actively involved with maggot therapy, leech therapy, hippotherapy, and pet therapy. Dr. Tippett helped to develop policies and protocols for maggot therapy, which are now used by many centers around the country. She has long been a supporter of and consultant to the BTER Foundation. |