MUSC professor to head allergy association
Allen P. Kaplan, M.D., becomes the second American to lead the 26,000-member
World Allergy Organization when he is installed as president during the
organization's meeting in Sydney, Australia, Oct. 15 - 20.
Dr.
Allen P. Kaplan
The World Allergy Association, more formally known as the International Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology/World Allergy Organization, is an international umbrella organization comprising 49 national allergy and clinical immunology societies and four affiliate organizations from around the world. It provides advice and active support intended to build a global alliance of allergy societies to advance excellence in clinical care, research, education and training.
“Dr. Kaplan has spent his career caring for patients with allergic conditions, conducting research leading to improved treatment ofallergies and teaching the next generation of physicians,” said MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D. “It is a source of great pride to all of us at the Medical University when one of our faculty takes the helm of a premier international professional organization.”
A professor of medicine, head of the Allergic Diseases Section and co-director of the Allergy and Asthma Center at MUSC, Kaplan also serves as director of the Konishi-MUSC Institute for Inflammation Research. The institute is a collaborative effort between MUSC and the Nippon Zoki Pharmaceutical Company in Japan to study Neurotropen. This drug has been used as a pain killer and anti-inflammatory agent in Japan for 40 years, but has not been approved for use in the United States. It has the potential for relieving a wide range of afflictions, including allergies, asthma, rheumatic diseases and neurologic disorders such as post-herpetic neuralgia and reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and, based on recent data, Alzheimer’s disease.
Kaplan previously served as secretary general of the World Allergy Organization. He is a former president of American Academy of Allergy and Immunology and the Clinical Immunology Society. In addition he has served as a director of the American Board of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Editor of the text, Allergy, now in its second edition, Kaplan serves
as editor-in-chief of Allergy and Clinical Immunology International, the
official publication of the World Allergy Organization. He also serves
as or has served as editor of 10 other national and international allergy/immunology
journals and authored or co-authored 252 peer-reviewed articles in professional
journals.