Meet ABAI's New Directors
L. to R.: T. Prescott Atkinson, MD, PhD, Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, Michael Nelson, MD, PhD, Stephen C. Dreskin, MD, PhD
T. Prescott Atkinson, MD, PhD
T. Prescott Atkinson, MD, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Asthma & Immunology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his MD/PhD from Emory University, and completed his pediatric residency at Georgetown University. Dr. Atkinson completed his fellowship in Allergy & Immunology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has served as an Officer in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve spanning 1975-2000. Since 2001, he has been a Member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Pulmonary-Allergy Drug Advisory Committee (PADAC). Dr. Atkinson earned the Arthritis Foundation, Alabama Chapter Joseph E. Suddeth Volunteer of the Year Award in 2007, and the Arthritis Foundation's Earl Brewer Physician Award in 2008. He brings to his ABAI Director post, extensive research and patient care experience focused on the role of atypical organisms in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases, especially in the areas of arthritis, asthma, cancer, and AIDS.
Stephen C. Dreskin, MD, PhD
Stephen C. Dreskin, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, where he earned his MD and PhD degrees. Dr. Dreskin completed his residency at the University of California-Davis, and fellowship at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD. He holds leadership roles as Co-Director of the Joint University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and National Jewish Medical and Research Center Training Program (Program B) in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and is on the Expert Panel of the National Vaccine Injury Program. Dr. Dreskin is also Consultant to Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the area of Genetics and Hypersensitivity Reactions to Vaccines. He is currently active in NIH RO1 Award research "Redefining the Major Peanut Allergens" (2007-2012), NIAD, NIH, Bethesda, MD.
Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD
Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, is the Director of the Division of Asthma Research at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. She earned her MD, PhD degrees from Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and completed her residency in Pediatrics, and fellowship in Allergy and Immunology at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Her honors and awards include: the Kinderveldt Endowed Professor in Asthma Research (2008); the AAAAI's Honorary Elliot F. Ellis Lectureship, which recognizes outstanding service to the specialty of allergy and immunology (2008); and a nomination for the 2008 Women's Involvement in the AAAAI Special Recognition Award. Dr. Hershey has served on the Editorial Board of JACI, and was the Principal Investigator in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases research on Epithelial Genes and Allergic Inflammation (2006-2011). Her interests and expertise are focused on asthma, allergic rhinitis, food allergy, and urticaria.
Michael Nelson, MD, PhD
Michael Nelson, MD, PhD, a University of Virginia School of Medicine graduate, is Chief of the Department of Allergy-Immunology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC). Dr. Nelson completed his residency at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, GA, and fellowship in Allergy-Immunology and Clinical Laboratory Immunology at WRAMC. He is the Program Director of the National Capital Consortium Allergy-Immunology Fellowship, and is Associate Professor, in both the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD. Since 2002, he has been Director of the U.S. Centralized Aeroallergen Extract Laboratory, which is the provider of extracts to the Air Force, Army, Navy, Indian Health System, and National Institutes of Health (NIH). As an educator, he received the General Claire Chennault Award in 2004, which annually distinguish one individual as "Teacher of the Year" at WRAMC. Dr. Nelson was Consultant to the Army Surgeon General in Allergy, Immunology and Immunizations and served on active duty in Afghanistan in the role as Colonel.
