A. Bernard Ackerman
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Albert Bernard Ackerman, M.D. (November 22, 1936 – December 5, 2008) was an American
dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...
and
pathologist Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
who was "a founding figure in the field of
dermatopathology Dermatopathology (from Greek , ''derma'' 'skin' + , ''pathos'' 'fate, harm' + , '' -logia'' 'study of') is a joint subspecialty of dermatology and pathology or surgical pathology that focuses on the study of cutaneous diseases at a microscopic and ...
."


Early life and education

Ackerman was born on November 22, 1936, one of three children of an orthodontist in
Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...
. He attended
Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...
in
Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...
. After earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy and theology from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, he received his medical degree from the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...
. He had his
residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...
training in
dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...
at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he served his third year of residency in dermatology and a fellowship in dermatopathology at
Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
.A. Bernard Ackerman
''
Dermatology Online Journal The ''Dermatology Online Journal'' is a monthly open-access peer-reviewed medical journal that was established in 1995 by Arthur Huntley (Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis). It is published by the California Digital Libra ...
''. Accessed December 10, 2008.
Ackerman interrupted his house-officership to serve two years in the military at
Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...
.


Career

Ackerman joined the faculties of the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in 1969 and
New York University School of Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
in 1973. He was a member of the Department of Dermatology at New York University Medical center from 1973 to 1992. During this time, in 1979, he founded the International Society of Dermatopathology. He also founded two journals during this time, ''The American Journal of Dermatopathology'', and ''Dermatopathology: Practical and Conceptual''. The publication of his 1978 book, Histologic Diagnosis of Inflammatory Skin Diseases was a landmark both in Ackerman's career and for the profile of dermatopathology. It is one of the few medical texts that looks like a coffee table art book. It introduced the concept of pattern diagnosis- the examination of a slide at scanning magnification and analysis of the silhouette of lesion rather than of its cells to a large audience. It also was organized by an algorithm rather than by disease, as opposed to most pathology or dermatology textbooks. Starting in 1992, he became a member of the faculty of
Jefferson Medical College Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. He established the Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology in New York City in 1999 to provide training in the diagnosis of skin diseases. Now the largest of its kind in the world, it is owned by
Quest Diagnostics Quest Diagnostics is an American clinical laboratory. A Fortune 500 company, Quest operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Brazil. Quest also maintains collaborative agreements with various hospitals and clinics across the globe. ...
. In line with his dedication to the field of dermatology and dermatopathology, in 2002, Ackerman and his nephew, Andy Zwick, launched Derm101, an online resource for medical professionals to learn how to diagnose and treat skin diseases. In 2004, Ackerman endowed the A. Bernard Ackerman Endowment for the Culture of Medicine at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
to encourage collaboration among the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
to help foster the interdisciplinary aspects of the relationship between physicians and their patients.Staff
"Ackerman funds program for culture, medicine"
, ''Harvard Gazette'', April 8, 2004. Accessed December 11, 2008.
Ackerman was a longtime critic of the argument that sun exposure should be avoided, stating that the risk of wrinkles or
squamous cell carcinoma Squamous-cell carcinomas (SCCs), also known as epidermoid carcinomas, comprise a number of different types of cancer that begin in squamous cells. These cells form on the surface of the skin, on the lining of hollow organs in the body, and on the ...
from exposure to the sun needs to be balanced against the advantages from exposure to
ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
radiation, a position he advocated in his book ''The Sun and the "Epidemic" of Melanoma: Myth on Myth!''. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported on Ackerman's return from a trip to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
from which he returned deeply tanned having not used any sunscreen. Ackerman insisted that the causal connection between melanoma and sun exposure was not proven and that the sun should be avoided to prevent skin aging, but that it would be a mistake to assume that avoiding sunlight or using sunscreens would protect an individual from melanoma. The
American Academy of Dermatology The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) is a non-profit professional organization of dermatologists in the United States and Canada, based in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago. It was founded in 1938 and has more than 20,500 members. The Academy ...
recognized Ackerman in 2004 with its Master Dermatologist Award which recognizes "an Academy member who throughout the span of his or her career has made significant contributions to the specialty of dermatology" and to the leadership and education programs of the Academy. He wrote some 700 papers and 60 books and provided expert testimony at 200 trials. One of his final papers, published in the ''
Archives of Dermatology ''JAMA Dermatology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It covers the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment in medical and surgical dermatology, pediatric and geriatric dermatology, and on ...
'' in 2008, was titled "An Inquiry Into the Nature of the Pigmented Lesion Above
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's Left Eyebrow", in which Ackerman argued that the failure of Roosevelt's physicians to consider the possibility of melanoma shows the flaws in medical wisdom at the time for diagnosing such lesions.Abstract of "An Inquiry Into the Nature of the Pigmented Lesion Above Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Left Eyebrow"
INIST The Institut de l'information scientifique et technique, or INIST ( en, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information) is the CNRS centre of documentation located in France. It has as mission to collect, treat and diffuse results of scientific ...
. Accessed December 11, 2008.


Personal life

Ackerman died at age 72 on December 5, 2008 of an acute cardiovascular event at his home in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.Hoffman, Jascha
"Bernard Ackerman, 72, Dies; Expert at Skin Diagnosis "
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', December 11, 2008. Accessed December 11, 2008.


See also

*
List of pathologists A list of people notable in the field of pathology. A * John Abercrombie, Scottish physician, neuropathologist and philosopher. * Maude Abbott (1869–1940), Canadian pathologist, one of the earliest women graduated in medicine, expert in co ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerman, Albert Bernard 1936 births 2008 deaths American dermatologists American pathologists Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Dermatopathologists Harvard Medical School alumni Massachusetts General Hospital fellows New York University Grossman School of Medicine faculty People from Elizabeth, New Jersey Scientists from New York City Princeton University alumni Scientists from New Jersey Thomas Jefferson University faculty University of Miami faculty University of Pennsylvania alumni