National Physician of the year

Richard L. Edelson, M.D. ’70, chair and the Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor of Dermatology, was one of five physicians to receive a National Physician of the Year Award from Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. in March. Edelson is an internationally recognized pioneer in the research and treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), a cancer affecting the skin. He identified and characterized this cancer, and his research group played a central role in deciphering the basic properties of CTCL cells in order to develop effective therapies. Edelson, who served as director of the Yale Cancer Center, received a Clinical Excellence Award. Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. publishes guides to the best doctors in the United States.

Edelson developed extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) for CTCL patients in clinical trials at Yale Cancer Center. ECP, the first FDA-approved selective immunotherapy for cancer, has been used more than 3 million times worldwide to treat CTCL, organ transplant rejection, and graft-versus-host disease, the major complication following bone marrow transplantation.

Edelson, who served as director of the Yale Cancer Center, received the Clinical Excellence Award at a ceremony in March. Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. publishes guides to the best doctors in the United States.