Emma Guttman-Yassky, MD, PhD, Waldman Chair of the Kimberly and Eric J. Waldman Department of Dermatology and Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, received the Paul Ehrlich Award for Experimental Research at the 2024 European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Annual Congress in Valencia, Spain.
This award honors individuals whose experimental inquiries have revolutionized the understanding of allergic diseases and immunological mechanisms, and is inspired by Paul Ehrlich, a physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy, winning the Nobel Prize in 1908.
“I was inspired to expand the field’s understanding of inflammatory and allergic skin conditions after a personal and family history of eczema and other allergic conditions,” says Dr. Guttman, who also serves as the Director of the Eczema Center, Contact Dermatitis Clinic, and of the Laboratory for Inflammatory Skin Diseases at Mount Sinai and is a member of the Dermatology Digest‘s editorial advisory board. “I have made it my mission to alleviate the suffering of patients with eczema and sensitive skin diseases, as well as other diseases associated with the atopic spectrum (such as alopecia areata); and am delighted to be part of so many key breakthroughs in our field. It’s a dream come true to see patients all over the world feel and look better, thanks to the array of new treatment options emerging, and those still yet to come. I am thankful to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology for honoring my life’s mission during this year’s Annual Congress.”
At this year’s EAACI Congress, Dr. Guttman gave a speech on JAK inhibitors and skin biomarkers during the “New Horizons in Skin Disorders” session.
Dr. Guttman has dedicated her clinical and research careers to inflammatory skin diseases, focusing on atopic dermatitis (AD)/eczema and recently also alopecia areata, as well as rare skin diseases that, until her research studies, did not have any treatments. Her research has made paradigm-shifting discoveries on the immunologic basis of AD/eczema in adults and children, enriching the understanding of the pathophysiology of this common disorder and opening the door to accelerated testing of novel immune, pathway-specific drugs for this disease. Her research into hair loss disorders such as alopecia areata, chronic hand eczema, keloids, and other skin diseases has consistently produced therapeutic breakthroughs due to her unique bench to bedside and back approach.
In April, Dr. Guttman also earned the first Therapeutic Innovation Award from the American Skin Association (ASA) for her work in helping to unravel the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving inflammatory skin diseases including atopic dermatitis (AD).
