George Tsokos, M.D., honored by Lupus Foundation and American College of Rheumatology

George Tsokos, MD, Chief of Rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and a national leader in the field of lupus research was honored by both the Lupus Foundation of America and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) with two prestigious awards presented during the 2014 ACR Annual Scientific Meeting recently held in Boston.

Tsokos received the Evelyn V. Hess Research Award from the Lupus Foundation of America. The Hess Award honors an investigator whose work has significantly advanced the understanding of the causes and management of lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that typically affects women between the ages of 15 and 45 and leads to inflammation and damage to various body tissues, including the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs blood vessels and brain.

Tsokos was also the recipient of the Distinguished Basic Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology. An ACR Award of Distinction, the award is presented to a basic scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology.

"For more than 20 years, George Tsokos has led investigations that have been instrumental in defining the molecular and biochemical abnormalities in T-cells of individuals with lupus," said BIDMC Chair of Medicine Mark Zeidel, MD. "This work has not only furthered our understanding of the disease's origins, but has led to the discovery of new therapeutic targets that are helping to improve the lives of patients with this debilitating disease."

Tsokos received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Athens, Greece, and trained in internal medicine at Georgetown University and in rheumatology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He was a member of the Uniformed Services at Walter Reed Hospital between 1987 and 2007, before joining BIDMC as Chief of Rheumatology in 2007. He also serves as BIDMC Center Director of a FOCIS Center of Excellence (Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies.)

Tsokos has additionally served as president of the Clinical Immunology Society, Chair of NIH Study Sections and has served in editorial capacities for a number of scientific journals including Clinical Immunology, PLOS ONE and The Journal of Immunology. He is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Master of the American College of Physicians.

Provided by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center