David H. Gutmann, MD, PhD, a neurofibromatosis expert at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2012 Friedrich von Recklinghausen Award.
The Children’s Tumor Foundation gives the annual award to individuals who have made significant contributions to neurofibromatosis research and clinical care. A set of complex genetic disorders, neurofibromatosis can affect almost every organ system, causing a predisposition for tumors to grow on nerves in the brain and throughout the body. The most common form, called NF1, affects one in every 3,000 children born. Another type, NF2, affects one in every 25,000.
“I am honored to receive this award, which recognizes the hard work and gains my team has made for children and adults with NF1 and NF2,” says Gutmann, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professor in Neurology and director of the Washington University Neurofibromatosis Center. He has been caring for individuals with these conditions at St. Louis Children’s Hospital since 1994.
Gutmann’s colleagues in the neurofibromatosis research community nominated him for the award, which is named for the German pathologist who first reported NF1 in 1882.
“Dr. Gutmann has a long-standing and preeminent role in neurofibromatosis research and clinical care and a longtime involvement with the Children’s Tumor Foundation,” the organization says.
For more information about the Washington University Neurofibromatosis Center, visit http://nfcenter.wustl.edu.
To learn more about Siteman, visit www.siteman.wustl.edu, or contact the center at 314-747-7222, 800-600-3606 (toll free) or info@siteman.wustl.edu.