Liise-anne Pirofski, MDDr. Liise-anne
Pirofski will deliver the Maxwell Finland lecture on Thursday, October 9 at the
2014 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) meeting in Philadelphia, PA.
Dr. Pirofski’s lecture, entitled “Why isn’t my patient getting better: Revisiting the disease in infectious diseases”, is given in honor of Dr. Maxwell Finland. Dr. Finland was a legendary infectious diseases researcher who pioneered work in the diagnosis, treatment, and epidemiology of bacterial infections; the evaluation of antimicrobials; and the demonstration of the evolving problem of antimicrobial resistance. He was influential in shaping infectious diseases training programs throughout the United States and in defining the discipline of infectious diseases as it is known today. He died in 1989 at the age of 85.
In delivering this lecture, Dr. Pirofski is recognized as a physician-scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the understanding of infectious diseases and public health. Dr. Pirofski has had NIH funded programs to investigate natural and vaccine-induced immunity to encapsulated microbes for more than twenty years. Her work has revealed novel ways in which antibodies protect against pneumococcal pneumonia and sepsis and improved understanding of how Cryptococcus neoformans and Streptococcus pneumoniae cause disease.
Dr. Pirofski is chief of the division of infectious diseases at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She led the development of an antibiotic stewardship program and an immunocompromised patient and transplant infectious diseases service at Montefiore and has expanded the clinical and research footprint of the division at Montefiore and Einstein. She is a member of the American Association of Physicians, the American Academy of Microbiology, and a fellow in the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. She is also an editor of mBio and Infection and Immunity, has served on numerous NIH study sections, including as chair, and on numerous national advisory committees and task forces, and as IDSA chair of the inaugural IDWeek meeting. She has received the Einstein Faculty Mentoring Award and the Harry Eagle Award, and is a member of the Davidoff society.
"This lecture is a well-deserved honor for Dr. Pirofski and the Division of
Infectious Diseases," said Dr. Laurie Jacobs, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Interim Chair of
the Department of Medicine.