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Established in 1983, the International Burn Foundation (IBF) was created by Dr John Carlton Tanner Jr to promote the goals of the International Society for Burns Injuries (ISBI). To this end, Dr Tanner set up the Tanner-Vandeput-Boswick Burn Prize, named after Dr Jaques Vandeput, who co-developed the Tanner-Vandeput dermatome for expanding donor skin for use in grafts, and Dr John Boswick, the then Secretary General of the ISBI.

 

The Tanner-Vandeput-Boswick Burn Prize is awarded every four years to researchers and clinicians who “have made an outstanding contribution to any aspect of the burn care field”. We are delighted that the 2014 recipient is F1000Prime Section Head in Critical Care & Emergency Medicine David Herndon.

 

Dr Herndon is Professor of the Department of Surgery and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), and has had a distinguished career in the burns field, having previously received the Distinguished Service Award and the Outstanding Service Award from the American Burns Association, the Medallion for Scientific Achievement by the American Surgical Association and Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Upon receiving the award, Dr Herndon paid tribute to the previous recipients:

“It was humbling for me to be considered for this award, given the giants of research who have preceded me as recipients… Since I began my career as a burn specialist in the 1980s, great progress has been made in the field of burn injuries, particularly the reduction in mortality for those suffering from massive burn injuries. The focus on rehabilitation and improving long term function has dramatically increased healing of not only the patient’s wounds, but the whole human being”.

The full UTMB press release can be read here, and the statement from the IBF can be found here.